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TESTS  ; 

OF  \ 

DIVINE    INSPIRATION;     | 

OK,    TUB 

RUDIMENT AL  PRINCIPLES  j 

BY  WHICH 

TRUE    AND    FALSE    REVELATION,  \ 

IN  ALL  ERAS  OF  THE  WORLD,  , 

CAN  BE   UNERRINGLY  \ 

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DISCRIMINATEl).  i 


The  testimony  of  Jeaus  is  ttie  spirit  of  propliecj." — Rav.  xix.  10. 


BY    F.    W.    EVANS 


NEW    LEBANON: 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNITED  SOCIETY  CALLED  SHAKERS. 

1853. 


TO    THE    HEADER. 


The  following  Tests  are  offered  to  the  Public,  as  an  explanation  of 
the  great  enigma  and  paradox  of  the  age—Spiritual  Manifestations  ; 
and  also  as  a  solution  of  what  has  often,  and  not  inappropriately, 
been  designated  the  "great  problem  of  the  age," — a  social  organ- 
ization that  shall  secure,  not  merely  "  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest 
number,'-  hit  also  the  greatest  good  to  the  ivhole  mimber  of  its  mem- 
bers. 

This  is  done  by  unfolding  and  illustrating  those  radical  principles 
upon  which  alone  such  organization,  or  system,  can  ever  be  based  ; 
as  is  demonstrated  by  the  successful  experiments  of  some  eighteen 
different  bodies  of  persons,  in  various  States  of  the  Union,  covering 
or  extending  over  a  period  of  more  than  seventy  years,  by  the  often- 
persecuted,  greatly-misrepresented,  and  little-understood  people  called 
Shakers. 

F.  W.  EVANS, 
CALVIN  GREEN. 

Sept.  1853. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 


SECTION  I. 


Chapter.                                                                                    Page. 
I.       RUDIMENTAL  PRINCIPLES  OF  THE   PATRI- 
ARCHAL ERA, 1 

"  SCMMAKY, 14 

II.       GOD'S  LAWS,  ORDINANCES,  &c.,     .        .        .        .15 

'*  SUMMAEY, 17 

III.       SUBJECT  CONTINUED, 18 

"  Summary, 22 


SECTION  II. 
Chapter.  Fage, 

l.       ESTABLISHED  LAWS  AND  RULES  OF    THE 

SECOND,  OR  MOSAIC  ERA,       .        .        .        .24 

"  SUM>UUY, 27 

11.        THE  CONSEQUENCES  OF  BEING  GUIDED  BY 

FALSE  REVELATIONS, 28 

"  Summary, 31 


IV  CONTENTS. 


SECTION  in. 

Chaptkr.  Page. 

I.        THE    LAW  OF  CHRIST,  CONTAINING    THE 

RULES  OF  THE  FIRST  CHRISTIAN  ERA,       .  33 

"  I  SUxMMART, 34 

U.  JESUS  CHRIST  THE  DIVINE  TEACHER,        .        :  35 

"  Summary, 37 

in.       SUBJECT  CONTINUED, 38 

"  Summary, 40 


SECTION  IV. 
Chapter.  Page, 

I.  THE  DIVINE  LAWS  OF  CHRIST,  AS  DEFINITE 
RULES  OF  JUDGMENT,  PERFECTED  IN 
SECOND  CHRISTIAN  ERA,  OR  FOURTH 
AND  LAST  DISPENSATION,     .        .        .        .42 

"  SUMM.VRY, 45 

n.       SHOWING    THAT  THE    THUS  CHURCH    IS 

BASED  UPON  REVELATION,      .        .        .47 

"  Summary, 60 

III.       SUBJECT   CONTINUED 51 

«  Summary -59 


SECTION  V. 
Chapter.  Page. 

I.         AFFINITIVE    RELATIONS  OF    THE  DIVINE 

WORK  OF  THE  FOUR  DISPENSATIONS,      .    62 
INTRODUCTION  TO  PART  IL,  .        .      .    67 


CONTENTS. 


PART    II. 


TESTS  OF   DIVINE   REVELATION. 


Page. 


I.    FAITH, 

.    72 

"                 Summary,  .      '  . 

.     73 

ir.     BAPTISM,    .        .        .        . 

.    73 

''                 Summary,  . 

.     •• 

.    74 

III.    SIN,      .... 

.    75 

"                 Summary,  . 

.     75 

IV.     SALVATION,      . 

.    75 

"                  Summary,  , 

.    76 

V.    LOVE  OF  GOD  TO  MAN, 

.    76 

"                 Summary,  . 

.    77 

VL    LOVE  OF  GOD /iV  MAN, 

.    77 

*'                 Summary,    . 

. 

.    78 

VIL    LOVE  OF  MAN  TO  MAN, 

.    78 

Summary,  . 

.    83 

VIIL     FORSAKING  ALL,    . 

.     84 

•'                  Summary,  . 

.    85 

IX.    VIRGIN  PURITY,      . 

.     85 

•'                  Summary, 

.     88 

X.    PEACE. 

.     90 

**                          SUMNLVRY, 

.     94 

XL    TRUTH,       . 

.     95 

XII.    SPIRITUAL  MAN,      . 

. 

.  102 

Xni.    CONCLUSION,   . 

.  107 

PRELIMINARY  REMARKS. 


'•Try  the  Spirits."  The  basis  and  beginning  of  all 
knowledge,  is  a  consciousness  of  our  own  being.  To  learn 
anything,  we  must  first  know  something.  The  less  a  being 
knows,  the  more  difficult  it  is  for  it  to  receive  knowledge ; 
and  the  more  it  knows,  the  easier  it  can  add  thereto.  *'  As 
the  mouth  tasteth  meats,  so  doth  the  ear  try  words." 

"  How  can  we  reason,  but  from  wliat  wo  know?" 

Man  can  only  try  propositions  presented  to  him,  by  the 
truth  already  in  liis  possession. 

Error  is  the  result,  either  of  admitting  that  to  be  self-evi- 
dent or  true,  which  is  not,  or  of  false  deduction  and  illogical 
reasonings  from  that  which  is  self-evidently  true. 

In  a  paper,  published  in  Auburn,  devoted  to  the  Spiritual 
manifestations,  the  principle  of  trying  the  spirits  by  some 
rules,  doctrines,  and  principles,  was  adopted  ;  and  those 
spirits  whose  revelations  and  communications  were  founded 
upon,  and  reconcilable  with,  such  principles  and  rules,  were 
to  be  accepted  and  believed  as  true ;  and  those  revelations 
and  communications  which  were  not  so  founded,  or  that  con- 
flicted with  such  rules,  principles,  and  doctrines,  were  to  be 
rejected  us  false. 

This  was  a  true  and  correct  principle,  and  a  proper  man- 
ner of  proceeding ;  and  is  the  only  one  in  which  men,  as 
rational,  accountable   beings,  can   possibly  proceed  and  be 


8  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS. 

justified.  For  it  is  certain,  that  no  portion  of  the  human 
family  are  so  lost  and  degraded,  as  not  to  be  in  possession 
of  some  truths,  by  which  they  can  try  their  ministering 
spirits.  The  danger  is  (as  was  the  case  in  the  above  in- 
stance), that  rules  and  doctrines  which,  equally  with  the 
spirits,  require  to  be  tested  and  proved,  will  be  adopted  as 
the  standard  of  judgment,  by  which  to  **  try  the  spirits." 

The  Auburn  company  laid  down  the  doctrines  of  the 
Trinity,  the  Deity  of  Jesus  Christ,  his  vicarious  sufferings 
and  death,  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  &c.,  as  infallible  cri- 
terions  of  judgment,  and  all  spirits  who  did  not  subscribe 
to  this  standard,  were  at  once  proscribed  and  banished. 

So  that,  as  all  these  doctrines,  and  almost  every  other 
rule  adopted  by  them,  were  taken  for  granted  as  true,  and 
no  attempt  at  proof  having  been  made,  though  each  one  was 
in  itself  evidently  erroneous,  it  was  therefore  impossible  for 
those  persons  to  have  communications  from  any  very  enlight- 
ened and  true  spirit.  The  mathematician  first  begins  with 
self-evident  propositions,  such  as  all  men  would  admit ;  as 
that  one  and  one  make  two  ;  that  the  two  equal  parts  of  an 
apple  are  equivalent  the  one  to  the  other ;  and  then  he  pro- 
ceeds logically,  step  by  step,  to  the  deepest  and  most  sub- 
lime problems.  This,  as  far  as  the  nature  of  the  subject 
will  admit,  is  designed  to  be  the  method  of  procedure  in  the 
following  treatise  ;  and  then  the  resulting  doctrines  are 
adopted  as  a  standard  by  which  to  try  the  spirits,  and  all 
spiritual  manifestations,  revelations,  gifts,  or  visions  that  may 
come,  or  purport  to  come,  from  the  spirit  world. 


PART  L 


EUDIMENTAL   PRINCIPLES   OF   THE 
PATRIARCHAL   ERA. 


"  For  the  Lord  hath  made  all  things  for  their  use." — Ecclus.  xzxix-  2. 


SECTION   I 


CHAPTER  I. 


USE. 


Man  : — Is  he  the  product  of  Nature,  or  of  a  Supreme 
Being?  He  is  now  in  a  fallen  condition.  Nature  is  either 
perfect,  or  imperfect.  If  Nature  be  the  author  of  man,  and 
she  be  imperfect,  then  there  is  no  rational  hope  that  he  will 
ever  be  raised  from  his  present  fallen  condition.  If  Nature 
were  the  author  of  man,  and  she  be  perfect,  then  it  may  with 
propriety  be  asked,  how  her  child — man — became  imperfect  ? 
also,  how  it  happened,  that  Nature,  which  possessed  the 
power  to  bring  man  into  existence  a  perfect  creature,  should 
ever  have  suffered  him  to  become  any  thing  other  than  what 
she  at  first  made  him  ?  And,  again  :  If  she.  Nature,  lacked 
the  ability  to  keep  him  perfect  when  he  was  so,  how  can  she 
2 


10  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

possess  sufficient  power  to  restore  him  to  that  condition  ?  or 
to  keep  and  preserve  hira  in  it,  supposing  him  to  be  so  re- 
stored ?  The  product  of  Nature,  man,  could  not  have /aZ/m, 
unless  Nature  also  fell,  for  he  would  not  have  been  a  free 
agent ;  as  Nature  could  not  bring  a  free  agent  into  being  ; 
for  free  agency  presupposes  the  existence  of  two  opposite 
powers,  controlled  and  directed  by  two  primary  antagonistic 
intelligences,  or  Beings. 

Therefore,  none  but  a  free  agent  could  fall,  or  be  again 
raised  after  it  had  fallen ;  for  to  rise,  also  presupposes  the 
existence  of  a  superior  intelligent  power  and  Being,  by  whose 
agency  the  resurrection  is  effected.  It  is,  therefore,  clearly 
demonstrable,  that  Nature  was  not  the  originator  of  the 
human  race  ;  and  that  there  is  a  Supreme  Being —  God,  an 
invisible  Power  and  Wisdom,  the  Author  and  Creator  of 
man,  and  of  all  good  things,  (Gen.  i.  31,)  as  may  be  plainly 
seen  by  the  visible  creation.  "  For  the  invisible  things  of 
Him  from  the  creation  of  the  world,  are  clearly  seen,  being 
understood  by  the  things  that  are  made." 

Creation  consists  of  two  parts :  the  outward  and  visible, 
which  may  be  denominated  the  body  ;  and  the  interior  and 
invisible, — spiritual  part — which  may  be  designated  the  soul. 

The  outer,  visible  body,  with  all  its  elements,  must  be  di- 
rected and  governed  by  the  living  power  of  the  interior,  or 
spiritual  part, — the  soul. 

3fan,  male  and  female,  was  brought  forth  as  the  highest 
production  of  the  elements  of  this  world,  and  represents  both 
parts :  his  outward,  or  animal,  being  tlie  visible  body, — a 
macrocosm  of  the  outward  earthly  world  ;  and  his  interior, 
or  soul,  a  microcosm, — an  organization  of  the  invisible  or 
spiritual  world. 

The  order  of  his  creation  was,  for  the  animal  organization, 
which  connected  him  with  the  external  world,  to  be  directed 
and  governed  by  the  powers  of  his  superior  part,  or  living 
soul ;  and  for  tliis  spirit  part  to  be  under  the  guidance  of 
the  Divine  laws  of  his  being;  through  the  medium  of  which, 


INSPIRATION.  11 

he  was  rendered  accountable  to  his  Creator  for  all  his  o-oinrrs 
All  the  faculties  of  man  were  originally  good,  and  innoceat, 
not  excepting  that  of  proo^eation. 

These,  through  the  insinuations  of  a  foreign  evil  influence, 
he  was  led  to  corrupt,  by  making  pleasure,  not  use,  the  end 
of  their  action  and  exercise.     This  is  lust, 

Man,  in  his  sphere,  was  not  a  machine,  hut  a  free  agent,  to 
choose  between  obedience  and  disobedience  to  good  or  evil. 
For  it  is  impossible  for  man  to  be  a  living,  rational  being, 
without  having  sensible  self-acting  hfe;  and  the  power  of 
choice  must  be  the  result. 

The  ability  to  receive,  and  the  desire  of,  knowledge  in  man, 
were  necessary  for  the  development  of  all  the  faculties  per- 
taining to  his  physical  and  spiiitual  organization ;  and  in 
themselves  were  perfectly  innocent.  By  these,  he  would 
have  increased  in  his  understanding  of  the  order  of  his  crea- 
tion, and  of  the  will  of  God  respecting  him  ; — how  to  subdue 
or  govern  the  world,  and  to  keep  it  and  himself  in  order. 

But,  under  the  instigation  of  evil,  the  innate  love  of  know- 
ledge was  used  to  "seek  out  many  inventions," — knowledcre 
of  evil  things  ;  and  it  thus  became  the  medium  through  which 
the  tempter  inspired  his  own  principles  of  life,  by  which  man, 
not  waiting  to  be  appropriately  developed,  or  to  be  guided 
by  superior  wisdom  into  the  appointed  time  and  season  for 
procreation,  was  untimely  led  into  the  work  of  generation. 
And  thus  was  implanted  in  man  the  principle  of  lust. 

Without  revelation  from  the  spirit  world,  man  is  ever  li- 
able to  mistake  the  Divine  agency,  by  which  all  the  opera- 
tions of  the  visible  worlds  are  effected,  and  to  ascribe  them 
10  some  mysterious  imaginary  power  which  he  calls  Nature  ; 
but  respecting  which,  he  can  give  no  intelligent  information. 
All  effects,  whether  they  be  natural  or  spiritual,  are  often 
thus  referred  to  this  unknown  and  unintelligent  cause  ;  which 
yet  leaves  the  mind  of  man  in  a  state  of  doubt  and  uncer- 
tainty, and  also  with  an  u-nde6ned  dissatisfied  feeling. 

But  the  unchangeable  nature  of  the  constituent  elements 


12  TESTS   OF    DIVINE 

of  the  visible  worlds,  and  the  regularity  and  harmony  of  the 
laws  by  which  they  are  governed,  resulting,  as  they  do,  in 
nought  but  useful  ends  and  purposes,  clearly  reveal  to  the 
rational  mind,  a  Supreme  Intelligence,  of  omnipotent  power 
and  wisdom,  possessed  of  a  superior  organization  to  all  other 
subsistences  ;  for  it  is  self-evident,  that  no  intelligent  organi- 
zation could  be  derived  where  no  intelligent  organization  ex- 
ists. **  Understand,  ye  brutish  ;  and  ye  fools,  when  will  ye 
be  wise?  He  that  planted  the  ear,  shall  he  not  hear?  and 
he  that  formed  the  eye,  shall  he  not  see  ?  He  that  chastiseth 
the  heathen,  shall  not  he  correct  ?  He  that  teacheth  man 
knowledge,  shall  not  he  know  ?"  (Ps.  xciv.  8 — 10.)  As  no 
visible  thing  has  power  to  organize  itself,  of  necessity,  all  or- 
ganizations are,  by  gradation,  derived  from  an  unoriginated 
primary  intelligent  Being,  or  Organization.  And,  as  no  de- 
rivative can  equal  the  original,  all  visible  organizations  must 
be  inferior  to  the  original  Supreme  Organization,  or  Being. 

In  a  recent  "  Treatise  on  Revelation,"*  the  object  is  to 
prove  the  existence  of  a  communication  between  the  natural 
and  spiritual  worlds,  continuously,  from  the  creation  of  man 
to  the  present  time.  Whilst  the  object  of  the  present  Treatise 
is  to  establish  a  standard,  or  rules,  by  which  all  men  may 
judge  or  discriminate  between  the  true  and  false,  the  good 
and  evil,  in  all  such  communications. 

In  order  the  better  to  attend  to  this  principal  object,  cer- 
tain points  will  now  be  assumed  as  true  as  that,  there  is  a 
God ;  a  spirit  world,  which  to  the  natural  man  is  the  pro- 
totype and  a  transcript  of  this ;  and  that  in  all  ages  there 
have  been  intelligent  communications,  from  one  to  the  other, 
which  have  been  both  true  and  false,  good  and  bad,  and 
sometimes  a  compound  of  all ;  and  that  the  Bible  contains 
the  most  authentic  record  of  such  spiritual  intercourse — es- 
pecially of  that  which  has  come  in  the  most  direct  line  of  the 
Divine  order,  but  not  the  ten-millionth  part  of  all  the  reve- 

*  By  Elder  William  Leonard  of  Harvard. 


INSPIRATION.  13 

latious  that  have  been  made  to  man,  individually  and  collec- 
tively. An  Apostle  declared,  that,  if  all  that  Jesus  alone 
said  and  did  had  been  written,  "  the  world  could  not  have 
contained  the  books."  How  much  less,  then,  would  it  con- 
tain a  record  of  all  which  has  passed  between  the  natural 
and  spiritual  spheres  ? 

No  truth  can  be  more  certain,  than  that  God  is  a  God  of 
order,  and  not  of  confusion.  (See  1  Cor.  xiv.  33.)  The  ex- 
ternal creation  alone  demonstrates  it.  Astronomy,  natural 
philosophy,  and  chemistry,  are  witnesses  of  it ;  as  are  all 
the  sciences,  which  bring  to  hght  the  laws  of  God  as  they 
exist  and  are  immutably  estabhshed  in  the  physical  world. 
Every  thing,  even  to  the  minutest  particle  of  sand,  derives 
its  form  from,  and  is  governed  by,  some  law  inherent  in  itself. 
So  true  is  it,  that  even  the  smallest  atom,  equally  with  the 
most  stupendous  world,  is  embraced  within  the  circle  of 
cause  and  effect,  originating  in  the  Divine  mind. 

It  is  in  this  light  that  the  very  hairs  of  our  head  are  all 
numbered,  and  that  not  a  sparrow  falls  to  the  ground  by 
chance.  "  He"  that  "  hath  weighed  the  world  in  a  balance, 
by  measure  hath  he  measured  the  times,  and  by  number 
hath  he  numbered  the  times.  And  he  doth  not  move  nor 
stir  them,  until  the  said  measure  be  fulfilled."  (2  Esdras, 
iv.  36,  37.)  The  vegetable  world  shows  forth  order,  in  all 
the  infinite  variety  of  its  productions.  There  is  not  a  plant 
so  vile  as  not  to  exhibit  system  and  beauty  in  its  organiza- 
tion :  each  branch,  and  twig,  and  leaf,  is  but  an  outward 
manifestation  of  an  invisible  and  eternal  law. 

The  animal  hingdora,  from  the  microscopic  insect  to  the 
half-reasoning  elephant,  is  also  subject  to,  and  governed  by, 
laws,  called  instinct,  far  more  enduring  and  unchangeable 
than  the  **  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,'"  and  which  lead 
them  (in  a  state  of  original  freedom)  to  do,  in  all  respects,  that 
which  is  for  their  best  present  good  and  future  welfare.  **  This 
also  cometh  forth  from  the  Lord  of  hosts,  who  is  wonderful 
in  counsel,  and  excellent  in  working."    (Is.  xxviii.  29.)    And 


14  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

of  man,  who  is  "  so  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made,"  that, 
in  his  outward  form,  he  is  in  truth  a  perfect  organization  of 
all  the  principles  of  law,  order,  and  beauty,  pertaining  to  our 
world,  can  we  rationally  believe,  that  he  was  not  designed  to 
be  governed  and  regulated  by  fixed  and  permanent  laws,  in 
his  moral  and  spiritual  nature  and  experience  ? 

"God  made  man  upright"  (Eccles.  vii.  29)  throughout. 
And,  while  upright,  he  was  obedient  to  the  physical,  moral, 
and  spiritual  laws  of  his  being  :  every  thought,  word,  and 
action,  was  but  the  effect  proceeding  from  these  invisible 
causes,  and  tended  towards  the  health  and  strength  of  his 
body,  mind,  and  soul.  The  whole  creation,  while  it  abode 
in  its  original  integrity,  was  justly  pronounced  "  very  good.'* 
But  how  widely  different  from  that  is  its  present  condition, 
let  the  general  verdict  of  all  classes, — religious  and  irre- 
ligious— determine. 

SUMMARY. 

The  natural  creation,  governed  by  fixed  immutable  laws, 
all  of  which  tended  towards  some  useful  end  and  purpose. 

Man  the  microcosm  of  the  world,  and  the  product  of 
nature,  under  God. 

By  the  insinuations  of  evil,  operating  upon  his  innate  love 
of  knowledge,  man  was  induced  to  violate  the  great  law  of 
USE,  the  first  law  of  creation,  hy 2y€^P^t7'atin(/  a  prematicre  and 
UNTIMELY  act  of  generation. 

Thus  the  fall  of  man  was  effected  by  his  rejecting  the 
teachings  and  influences  of  Divine  ministering  spirits,  friends, 
who  would  have  kept  him  in  subjection  to  all  the  physical 
and  moral  laws  of  his  nature  ;  and  by  listening  to,  and  obey- 
ing tl-.e  whisperings  and  suggestions  of,  evil  spirits,  whereby, 
in  his  actions,  he  began  to  seek,  as  an  end,  gratification,  and 
not  use. 


INSPIRATION.  16 


CHAPTER   II. 

LAW. 

By  dividing  the  spiritual  history  of  the  human  race  into 
four  great  Eras, — the  Patriarchal,  the  Mosaic,  and  the  First 
and  Second  Christian,  we  can  the  more  easily  trace  the  cre- 
ation, the  fall,  and  the  rise  of  man. 

In  the  First  Era,  previous  to  the  fall,  man  is  represented,  in 
the  Scriptures,  as  enjoying  easy  and  uninterrupted  com- 
munion with  spiritual  beings.  But,  since  that  event,  angel 
visits  have  been  *'  few  and  far  between."  And  in  what  way, 
and  by  what  means,  man  has  fallen  to  his  present  degraded 
and  deplorable  state,  is  vividly  portrayed  and  set  forth,  by 
the  Prophet  Isaiah,  (xxiv.  5,  6.)  "  The  earth  also  is  defiled 
under  the  inhabitants  thereof,  because  they  have  trans- 
gressed the  laws,  changed  the  ordinances,  and  broken  the 
everlasting  covenant.  Therefore  hath  the  curse  devoured 
the  earth,  and  they  that  dwell  therein  are  desolate." 

Thus,  it  was  disobedience  to  well-known  laws,  and  esta- 
bhshed  ordinances,  and  the  breaking  of  a  solemn  covenant, 
which  God  made  with  all  his  creatures,  when  he  directed 
them  to  "multiply  and  replenish  the  earth,"  and  which  was 
pre-eminently  designed  to  be  an  "  everlasting  covenant,"  for 
the  regulation  of  man,  in  the  chief  and  most  important  ope- 
ration of  nature — ^/jrocrm^io?i — that  constituted  him  a  fallen 
being.  This  *'  everlasting  covenant,"  which  God  made  with 
his  creatures,  was,  that  no  animals  should  use  their  reproduc- 
tive powers  and  or  [fans  for  any  other  than  the  simj^le  puri>ose 
of  procreation  ;  and  was  the  sole  condition  upon  which  God 
would  impart  to  them  the  power  to  bring  forth  offspring  in 
their  own  likeness,  and  after  their  own  kind,  in  the  primitive 
Divine  order  of  *^very  good.'^ 

Th«  violation  of  this  covenant,  which  ^nan,  on  his  part. 


16  TESTS   OF  DIVINB 

accepted  by  marriage,  and  to  which  he,  as  the  head  and  lord 
of  all  creation,  should  have  yielded  the  most  implicit  obedi- 
ence is  the  root  of  the  transgression  of  every  other  law  and 
ordinance,  that  has  ever  been  broken  by  man,  and  it  was  this 
act  that  originated  and  implanted  the  principle  of  lust  in  him ; 
and  when  lust  w^as  thus  conceived,  it  brought  forth  sin  ;  and 
when  sin  was  finished,  it  brought  forth  darkness  of  mind  and 
soul,  and  even  death;  so  that  his  intercourse  with  good 
spiritual  friends  was  interrupted  and  confused,  by  the  evil 
spirits  to  whom  he  had  hearkened,  and  whose  counsel  he  had 
followed  ;  and  therefore  "  his  servant  he  became  unto  whom 
he  had  yielded  himself  a  servant  to  obey  ;"  (Rom.  vi.  16  ;)  so 
that  gradually  he  lost  the  knowledge  of  those  laws  and  ordi- 
nances, and  of  the  covenant  that  he  had  so  shamefully  broken. 

"  Because  that,  when  they  knew  God,  they  glorified  him 
not  as  God,  neither  were  thankful ;  but  became  vain  in  their 
imaginations,  and  their  foohsh  heart  was  darkened.  Where- 
fore, God  gave  them  up  to  uncleanness,  through  the  lusts  of 
their  own  hearts,  to  dishonor  their  own  bodies  between  them- 
selves. God  gave  them  up  to  vile  affections.  God 
gave  them  over  to  a  reprobate  mind.  Being  filled  with  all 
unrighteousness,  wickedness,  covetousness,  maliciousness; 
full  of  envy,  murder,  debate,  deceit,  malignity ;  whisperers, 
backbiters,  haters  of  God,  despiteful,  proud,  boasters,  inven- 
tors of  evil  things,  covenant  breakers,"  <fec.  &c.     (Romi.) 

These  various  evils,  with  very  many  others,  are  thus 
set  forth  as  being  the  necessary  effects  of  the  human  race 
having  once  broken  and  departed  from  the  original  law  and 
design  of  God  in  creating  them  male  and  female  {i.e.  that 
they  should  cojnilate,  for  procreation  only,  and  not  for 
gratification);  and  they  found  no  stopping-place  in  their  de- 
scent into  the  hell  of  lust,  which  is  truly  a  bottomless  pit. 

And  thus  the  human  race  in  the  First  Era,  having  once 
entered  upon  a  course  of  evil,  that  is,  of  making  sensual  jylea- 
sure,  and  not  use,  the  end  and  object  in  their  every  action, 
did  not  cease,  in  their  insane  career,  until  they  had  "  filled 


INSPIKATION.  17 

the  earth  with  violence  ;"  finally  attaining  to  that  degree  of 
lawlessness,  that  "  every  imagination  of  their  hearts  was  evil, 
and  that  continuously."  (Gen.  vi.  5.)  "  God  was  not  in  all 
their  thoughts."  How  then  could  man  continue  to  exist  while 
living  in  perpetual  disobedience  to  the  laws  of  his  existence  !  ! 

"  For  God  made  not  death  ;  neither  hath  he  pleasure  in 
the  destruction  of  the  livino^.  For  he  created  all  thino-s,  that 
they  might  have  their  being :  and  the  generations  of  the 
world  were  healthful ;  and  there  is  no  poison  of  destruction 
in  them,  nor  the  kingdom  of  death  upon  the  earth.  But  un- 
godly men  with  their  works  and  words,  called  it  to  them ; 
for  when  they  thought  to  have  it  their  friend,  they  consumed 
to  nought  and  made  a  covenant  with  it."  (Wisdom  of  So- 
lomon, i.  13-lG.) 

Thus  man,  who  was  originally  good,  and  (so  long  as  he 
was  a  law-keeper)  in  daily  communion  with  the  spirit  world, 
and  entirely  under  the  Divine  influence,  when  he  broke  the 
first  and  most  important  law  pertaining  to  the  propaga- 
tion of  his  race,  opened  the  way  for  evil  of  every  name 
and  nature ;  and  began  to  cut  himself  off  from  all  spiritual 
intercourse,  except  that  which  was  from  an  evil  source. 
"  Darkness  commenced  to  cover  the  earth,  and  gross  dark- 
ness the  people."  (Is.  Ix.  2.)  So  that  each  succeeding 
generation  came  into  being  under  increasingly  perverted  and 
corrupt  influences,  until  they  degenerated  into  a  state  of  the 
most  profound  spiritual  ignorance,  even  denying  the  exist- 
ence of  the  spirits  of  evil  that  led  and  governed  them  daily ; 
as  they  also  denied  the  spirits  of  good,  by  which  alone  they 
could  have  been  saved  from  the  destruction  that  awaited 
them. 

SUMMARY. 

Before  man  fell,  he  had  easy  and  uninterrupted  commu- 
nion with  good  spirits. 

God  made  an  everlasting  covenant  with  all  animals,  that 
they  should  not  use  their  reproductive  powers  for  any  other 

2* 


18  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

than  the  simple  purpose  of  procreation  ;  and  the  laws  of  this 
covenant  were  piimitively  implanted  in  man  as  in  all  other 
animals. 

This  covenant  man  broke  ;  and  thus  opened  the  way  for 
the  transgression  of  every  other  law  that  pertained  to  that 
Era.  For  man  became  a  servant  to  those  evil  spirits  unto 
whom  he  had  yielded  himself  a  servant  to  obey,  until  he  was 
only  evil.  Then  came  the  flood  ;  for  it  was  impossible  for 
man  to  continue  to  exist  in  perpetual  and  entire  disobedience 
to  all  the  laws  of  his  existence. 

Man,  when  under  Divine  revelation,  kept  all  the  laws  of 
his  Era ;  and  had  happiness — life. 

When  under  false  and  evil  revelations,  he  broke  all  the 
laws  of  his  Era  ;  and  had  misery — death. 


CHAPTER  III. 


TESTS. 


To  the  present  existing  generations  of  men  upon  earth, 
upon  whom  the  spiritual  light  of  God  has  never  yet  shone, 
tlie^  assertions  and  denunciations  contained  in  Romans,  i.,  &c. 
cannot  in  full  be  applied  ;  for  they  never  *'  knew  God"  aright. 
In  the  earlier  ages,  men  possessed  a  knowledge  of  God,  and 
of  HIS  LAWS  ^^ertomm^  to  THEIR  ORDER,  but  lost  it  by  wick- 
edness. **  They  did  not  love  to  retain  God  in  their  know- 
ledge." While  the  present  generations  must  be  brought  to 
a  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  those  laws,  before  they  can  be 
judged  by  them  and  reclaimed  from  their  wickedness. 

The  last  and  only  hope  of  man  is  Revelation  ;  for  he  finds 
himself  born  into  a  deranged,  disordered  world ;  and  pos- 
sessed of  an  inherent  constitutional  proclivity  to  evil  ;  and 
that  himself  has  also  inherited  in  his  own  person,  from  his 
progenitors,  its  accumulated  fruits. 


INSPIRATION.  1& 

Both  tlie  evil  and  its  effects,  are,  in  the  premises,  inde- 
pendent of  his  own  voHtion  and  free  agency. 

It  is,  therefore,  only  through  the  medium  of  Bevelation 
that  he  can  be  brought  to  understand  the  causes  that  have 
worked  his  ruin,  and  thus  come  to  a  knowledge  of  the  pri- 
mary fundamental  laws  of  God  and  Nature;  by  the  continued 
violation  of  which,  he  has  been  reduced  to  his  present  de- 
plorable condition  :  for  the  experience  of  thousands  of  years 
has  proved  that  Nature  cannot  impart  that  knowledge. 

Revelation,  therefore,  is  the  rock,  the  foundation,  upon 
which  he  must  build,  or  never  be  saved  from  the  effects  of 
the  fall,  and  find  eternal  life.  And  here  is  the  trying  point ; 
for  the  prediction  of  Paul  is  fulfilled :  "  This  know  also,  that, 
in  the  last  days,  perilous  times  shall  come.  For  men  shall 
be  lovers  of  their  own  selves,  covetous,  boasters,  proud,  blas- 
phemers, disobedient  to  parents,  unthankful,  unholy,  without 
natural  affection,  truce-breakers,  false  accusers,  incontinent, 
fierce,  despisers  of  those  that  are  good,  traitors,  heady,  high- 
minded,  lovers  of  pleasure  more  than  lovers  of  God,"  &c. 
(2  Tim.  iii.  1-4.) 

It  is  sin — such  things  as  these — that  separate  between  the 
soul  and  good  ministering  spirits ;  and  that  unites  the  soul 
to,  and  invites  the  ministrations  of,  dark  and  evil  spirits. 
Consequently,  when  the  spiritual  faculties  in  man  (which 
have  become  dormant)  are  quickened  and  developed  by  the 
ministrations  of  good  spirits,  evil  ones  stand  ready  to  occupy 
the  avenue  thus  opened,  and  a  mixture,  in  their  communica- 
tions, of  truth  and  error,  good  and  bad,  is  the  result. 

Hence  the  necessity  for  a  higher  standard  of  judgment, 
which  was  set  up  in  the  third  Era,  in  which  time  mankind 
were  brought  into  a  nearer  relation  to  a  higher  order  of 
spirits  than  theretofore  had  ever  had  any  direct  access  to 
them.  And  with  whom  they  were  thenceforth  to  hold  com- 
munion, and  travel  in  that  Gospel,  (''  which  the  angels  desire 
to  look  into  ")  by  which  they  expected  to  be  judged  with 
men,  and,  through  obedience  thereto,  be  participators  with 


20  TESTS   OF   DlVINifi 

them  of  its  salvation:  these  were  the  justified  spirits  of  men 
which  constituted  "  the  Church  of  the  first-born  which  are 
written  in  heaven,"  or  first  Christian  Church  existing  in  the 
spirit  world. 

And  even  there  the  spirit  of  error,  or  antichrist,  was  also 
liable  to  work,  though  perhaps  with  less  power  than  among 
those  in  the  Church  upon  .earth.     Therefore,  that  faithful 
watchman,  Paul,  after  saying  to  his  brethren,  "Ye  are  come 
unto  Mount  Zion,  and  unto  the  city  of   the  living  God,  the 
heavenly,   (or  rather  spiritual  Jerusalem,  and  to  an  innu- 
merable  company  of  Angels,"  (Heb.  xii.  22),  sounded  the 
trumpet  of  alarm  in  the  holy  Mount  of   Zion  upon  earth, 
when  he,  after  referring  them  to  the  well-known  Gospel  doc- 
trines  of   Christ,   said,   "  Though  we,  or  an  angel  from 
HEAVEN,  preach  any  other  gospel  unto  you  than  that  which 
we  have  preached  unto  you,  let  him  be  accursed.     [As  we 
said  before,  so  say  I  now  again.  If  anr/  man  preach  any 
other  gospel  unto  you,  than  that  ye  have  received,  let  him 
be  accursed."     (Gal.  i.  8,  9.)     How  imperatively  essential, 
then,  is  it,  that  man  should  be  possessed  of  some  impeccable 
rule,  or  test,  by  which  to  protect  himself  from  the  shafts  of 
evil  thus  projected  from  the  spirit  spheres;  and   projected, 
too,  through  the  operation  of  those  very  faculties  by  which 
alone  his  resurrection   can  ever  be  effected.     To  this  end, 
must  he  not  receive  a  knowledge  of  the  original  laws  of  God, 
as  established  in  nature,  and  of  the  great  fundamental  law  of 
animal  being  in  'particular,  in  the  breach  of  which  consisted 
the  very  first  transgression  ? 

This  knowledge  would  operate  as  a  key  to  the  human 
mind,  by  which  to  unlock  the  mysteries  of  iniquity,  whether 
they  be  of  ancient  and  venerable  date,  and  covered  over  with 
the  moss  of  antiquity,  or  the  product  of  more  modern  spirit- 
ual manifestations ;  and  would  thereby  enable  man  to  burst 
the  bands  of  darkness  and  death,  and  to  "  cut  the  cords  of 
sin,"  that  now  hold  and  fasten  him  to  the  earth ;  by  causing 
him  to  return  to  Jirst  principles,  and  thus  to  "  discera  be- 


INSPIRATION".  21 

tween  the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  between  him  that  serv- 
eth  God,  and  him  that  serveth  him  not ;"  (Mai.  iii.  18)  ;  and 
that  he  may  not  only  "  try  the  spirits,"  and  all  teachings  and 
doctrines,  pm-porting  to  come  from  the  invisible  world  ;  but 
also  be  in  possession  of  an  infallible  standard,  or  criterion,  by 
which  he  can  judge  them  with  a  righteous  judgment. 

Every  dispensation  of  the  work  of  God,  commenced  in 
Divine  revelation^  by  which  li?,  foundations  were  laid.  And, 
to  support  and  perfect  the  work  of  each  Dispensation,  a  con- 
tinued revelation  was  also  indispensably  requisite  ;  for,  when- 
ever (from  whatever  cause)  the  gifts  of  the  Divine  Spirit 
ceased,  a  **  falling  away"  among  the  professors  of  that  order 
was  the  inevitable  result.  '■  Where  there  is  no  vision,  the 
people"  soon  "  perish."  (Prov.  xxix.  18.)  Such  a  ''falling 
away^'  and  '- perisfiing''  have  befallen  the  Church  of  each 
of  the  three  first  Epochs,  or  Eras. 

But,  although  a  continued  revelation  was  always  needful, 
by  which  to  know  the  then  present  will  of  God ;  yet  an  all- 
important  principle  has  ever  been  paramount  to  all  others, 
in  every  age  of  the  world  ;  and  that  is,  an  itnerring  rule, 
by  ivhich  to  judge,  distinguish,  and  know  divinely -inspired 
revelations  from  those  which  are  spurious  and  false.  And 
such  rule  has  been  given  in  the  established  principles  which 
formed  the  foundation  of  each  Dispensation. 

For  all  revelation,  however  high  its  pretensions,  that  did 
not  conform  to,  and  was  not  in  accordance  with,  those  per- 
manent rudimental  principles,  was,  by  reason  as  well  as  by 
Divine  appointment,  to  be  utterly  rejected.  And,  in  all  ages, 
the  blessings  and  cursings,  or  judgments  of  God  upon  the 
children  of  men,  were  in  proportion  to  their  obedience  or  dis- 
obedience to  this  rule. 

In  the  Dispensation  of  the  Patriarchs,  the  well-defined 
principles  of  the  moral  laio  of  nature  (as  already  set  forth) 
formed  the  foundation  of  that  Dispensation,  and  became  the 
rule  by  which  to  try  all  future  revelations  or  principles  in 
that  Era,  through  whatever  spirit,  or   from  whatever  source 


22  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

they  raigbt  come.  Hence,  all  who  conformed  to  this  law 
and  rule  were  blessed  of  God,  in  their  day  and  generation. 

The  line  of  the  Patriarchs  was  noticed  and  blessed  of  God 
for  their  obedience  thereto.  Enoch  and  Noah  were  particu- 
larly distinguished  therein,  especially  with  regard  to  the  law 
of  procreation  :  they  **  walked  with  God." 

"  Noah  was  a  just  man  and  perfect  in  his  generations." 
And  for  this  cause  God's  covenant  was  established  with  him, 
and  he  was  preserved  from  "  perishing  with  the  world  of  the 
ungodly."  (2  Pet.  ii.  5.)  It  is  therefore  evident,  that,  what- 
ever revelations  he  received  were  in  conformity  with  the  fixed 
foundation  principles  of  that  Dispensation. 

On  the  contrary,  the  posterity  of  Cain,  (who  was  the  seed 
of  lust,  and  appears  to  have  been  the  first  fruit  of  trans- 
gression,) designated  "the  sons  and  daughters  of  men,''  and 
also  the  apostates  from  the  Patriarchal  order,  who  violated 
the  Moral  Law,  and  would  not  hearken  to  the  revelations  en- 
joining obedience  thereto,  incurred  the  Divine  displeasure, 
and  were  overwhelmed  by  the  destroying  deluge. 

SUMMARY. 

Men  gradually  lost  the  knoivledge  of  those  laws  of  life 
that  they  would  not  keep. 

The  present  generations  are  begotten,  born,  and  brought  up, 
in  ignorance  of  the  essential  laws  of  their  own  order — the 
generative. 

They  have  lost  the  true  Divine  revelation  that  they  would 
not  obey  ;  and  are  now  in  gross  darkness. 

Sin  is  the  cause  of  the  universal  spiritual  ignorance  which 
now  prevails  on  the  earth  among  all  people.  And  mankind 
universally  are  so  lost,  ignorant,  and  wicked,  that  when  good 
spirits  open  a  communication,  evil  ones  also  use  it. 

Therefore  man  needs  tests,  or  unerring  rules,  by  which  to 
"  discern  between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked"  spirits. 

For  this  purpose,  he  must  have  a  knowledge  of  the  laws 


INSPIRATION.  28 

of  God,  and  of  nature,  as  pertaining  to  each  of  the  Four 
Eras  ;  and  especially  of  the  great  fundamental  law  of  animal 
being,  that  permits  sexual  union  for  procreation  only. 

This  is  the  key  to,  and  root  of,  the  whole  "  mystery  of  ini- 
quity"— all  the  wickedness  among  mankind. 

"Where  there  is  no  vision" — revelation, — "the  people 
perish." 

The  rudimental  laws  of  each  Dispensation  were  the  rules, 
or  tests,  by  which  to  judge  all  spiritual  communications.  If 
any  spirits  taught  disobedience  to  them,  it  was  **  because 
there  was  no  light  in  them  ;" — they  were  evil. 

In  the  First  Era,  those  who  stood  in  the  Divine  revelation, 
were  such  as  obeyed  all  the  laws  of  that  Era.  Thus,  in  and 
while  ful fining  the  great  innate  law  of  animal  being,  (for 
every  species  to  multiply  and  replenish  the  earth  with  its 
kind,)  they  "  walked  with  God,""  because  they  were  perfect 
in  their  generations, — the  work  of  generation — the  central 
impulsive  object  of  that  Era. 


24  TESTS  OF  DIVINB 


SECTION    II. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ESTABLISHED    LAWS     AND    RULES     OF    THE    SECOND,    OR    MOSAIC 
ERA,  AND    MEDIUMS    OF    TRUE    REVELATION. 

The  next  great  Revelation  of  God,  constituting  the  Second 
Era,  commenced  in  Abraham :  the  object  of  which  was  to 
renew,  enter  into,  and  ratify  the  original  covenant  pertaining 
to  Generation,  which  had  not  only  been  broken,  but  even  the 
knowledge  thereof  was  lost  from  among  the  children  of  men. 
Of  this  covenant  Abraham  received  the  seal, — circumcision 
— which  was  also  the  sign  of  the  covenant  pertaining  to  rege- 
neration, or  virgin  purity,  that  God  would  make  with  the 
"  Everlasting  Father"  of  the  new  creation,  in  the  third  Era, 
or  first  Christian  Dispensation.  Therefore  Abraham  is  termed 
the  "  father  of  the  faithful,"  in  both  the  typical  and  spiritual 
Israel. 

This  two-fold  object  of  the  covenant  with  Abraham,  was 
also  expressed  in  the  Mosaic  law,  that  was  added,  (first) 
"  because  of  transgression"  by  man,  to  teach  him  what  the 
original  law  of  the  preceding  Dispensation  was  that  he  had 
transgressed ;  and  to  restrain  him  within  certain  bounds  in 
future. 

**  By  the  law  was  the  knowledge  of  sin,"  (see  Rom.  iii,  20,) 
and  of  what  was  sinful.  And  from  its  requirements,  (see 
Lev.  XV.  16,  18,)  men  learned  the  depravity  of  their  na- 
ture, and  that  they  could  not  cohabit,  even  in  the  marriage 
state^  though  simply  to  propagate  their  species,  without 
COMMITTING  SIN  AT  THE  SAME  TIME ;  and  that,  for  every  child, 
however  legally  brought  into  existence,  a  sin-offering  was  re- 


INSPIRATION.  26 

quired  to  be  made  before  the  Lord  as  an  atonement.  (Lev.  xii. 
6,  8.) 

Again,  another  object  of  the  law  was  to  prepare  men 
for  the  work  of  Christ  in  the  Third  Dispensation.  •*  The  law 
was  a  schoolmaster  to  bring  souls  to  Christ."  (Gal.  iii.  24.) 
This  was  done  by  types  and  figures,  which  were  but  shadows 
of  good  things  to  come.  By  circumcision,  or  the  cutting  off 
a  portion  of  the  organ  of  generation  in  man,  and  the  days  of 
separation  from  the  camp  of  the  saints  required  of  the  female, 
(see  Lev.  xii.  1 — 5)  were  foreshown  the  cutting  off  and se^mra- 
lion  of  the  ivork  of  2^ropagation  from  all  that  are  in  Christ. 

If  man  could  not,  even  under  the  restraints  and  purifica- 
tions of  the  Mosaic  law,  and  that  after  he  was  circumcised, 
generate  offspring  without  committing  sin ;  then  Christ  cer- 
tainly could  not  save  him  from  his  sin  without,  at  the  same 
time,  cutting  him  off,  and  severing  him  from,  the  work  of 
generation.  For,  if  "  Christ  came  to  fulfil  the  law,  and  not 
to  destroy  it,"  both  himself  and  his  followers  must  needs 
abstain  and  cease  from  all  those  things  that  the  law  of 
Moses  condemns  as  sinful,  and  for  which  it  requires  a  sin- 
offering. 

Now,  although  Moses  was  ministered  unto  by  angels,  and 
the  people  obeyed  him  as  an  inspired  leader ;  yet,  be  it  ob- 
served, that  his  revelations  formed  a  complete  system  of 
laws,  statutes,  and  judgments,  all  of  which  were  recorded ; 
that  the  ten  commandments  were  written  upon  tables  of 
stone ;  and  that  these  laws  were  taught  to  all  the  people^ 
old  and  young  ;  so  that  every  one  knew  what  to  depend  upon. 
And,  be  it  further  observed,  no  human  governments  are  so 
unjust  as  not  to  publish  their  laws,  that  the  people  may 
know  what  they  must  do  to  live. 

Yet,  Moses  did  not  claim  the  exclusive  right  to  inspiration  ; 
for  he  said  that  "  he  would  that  all  the  Lord's  people  were 
prophets;"  knowing  that,  if  they  were  all  true  '*  prophets," 
there  would  be  no  clash  or  confusion. 

Yet  it  was  said  to  them,  "  If  there  arise  among  you  a  pro- 


26  TESTS  OF   DIVINE 

phet,  or  a  dreamer  of  dreams,  and  giveth  thee  a  sign  or  a  won- 
der, and  that  sign  or  wonder  come  to  pass  whereof  he  spake 
unto  thee,  saying,"  let  us  do  so  and  so,  (any tiling  contrary  to 
the  laws  and  statutes  of  Moses,  with  which  every  one  was 
acquainted,)  'Hhey  should  kill  him."  For  the  injunction  was, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  hearken  unto  the  words  of  that  prophet,  or 
that  dreamer  of  dreams ;  for  the  Lord  your  God  proveth  you 
to  know  whether  ye  love  the  Lord  your  God,  with  all  your 
heart  and  with  all  your  soul.  (Deut.  xiii.  1,  5,  &  9.)  From 
these  passages,  it  is  evident  that  a  false  prophet  might  have 
as  real  a  spiritual  ministration  to  him,  as  a  true  one,  as  in  the 
case  of  Balaam ;  but  a  criterion  had  been  given  by  which  he 
could  be  known ;  and  that  was  "  To  the  law  and  to  the  testi- 
mony ;  if  they"  (the  spirits)  *' speak  not  according  to  this  word, 
it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in  them."     (Is.  viii.  19,  20.) 

And  when  they  were  desired  to  seek  unto  them  that  had 
"familiar  spirits,  and  unto  wizards  that  peep  and  that  mut- 
ter," this  was  their  answer,  "should  not  a  'people  seek  unto 
their  GodP  in  the  order  of  his  aj't^yointment  ?  "  for  there 
were  false  prophets  among  the  people,"  (2  Pet.  ii.  1,)  who 
taught  them  to  go  after,  and  serve  other  gods,  and  forsake 
the  true  God,  and  who  had  access  to  spirits  that  were  not 
within  or  under  the  Divine  influence. 

And,  although  God  raised  up  a  succession  of  prophets, 
whose  revelations  were  in  full  accordance  with  the  established 
principles  of  the  law,  and  who  proved  the  truth  of  their  mis- 
sions by  the  godliness  of  their  requirements,  and  the  fulfil- 
ment of  their  predictions;  yet  such  was  the  influence  of  the 
false  prophets,  and  their  spurious  revelations,  upon  the  people, 
that  ofttimes  they  refused  to  hearken  to  and  obey  the  true 
messengers  of  God,  whose  revelations  were  invariably  crossing 
to  their  natural  and  corrupt  propensities. 

Witness  the  numerous  prophets  of  Baal,  and  the  false  pro- 
phets, Hananiah,  Ahab,  Zedekiah,  and  Shemaiah ;  and  the 
judgments  which  followed  them.  (See  1  Kmgs,  xviii.  and 
xxii. ;  and  Jer.  x xviii.  and  xxxix.) 


INSPIRATIOX.  27 


SUMMARY. 

Tlie  revelations  of  tliis  Era  were  designed  to  effect  two 
objects. 

First:  To  r^-reveal  the  laws  of  the  First  Era,  which  had 
been  broken  and  were  lost ;  and, 

Secondly :  To  foreshadow,  by  types  and  figures,  the  laws 
of  the  Third  Era. 

Thus  the  confessions  to  the  priests,  exclusion  from  the 
camp,  washings,  &c.,  consequent  upon  all  generative  works, 
were,  for  the  time  being,  efifectual  restraints  under  the  law 
of  Moses. 

And  circumcision  was  the  sign  that  generation  itself  would, 
in  the  next  Era,  be  cut  off  by  Christ  the  Messiah. 

And  the  Jews  learned,  that,  even  under  the  cloak  and 
sanction  of  marriage,  they  could  not  cohabit,  though  simply 
to  procreate,  without  committing  sin  at  the  same  time.  For 
a  sin-offering  was  required  for  the  very  act  and  fact  of  beget- 
ting and  bringing  forth  a  child. 

**  Christ  was  the  end  of  the  law,"  by  fulfilling  it :  for  it 
was  made  for  those  who  break,  not  those  who  keep  it :  and 
he  could  not  keep — fulfil — it  without  refraining  from  the 
work  of  generation. 

The  Law  pointed  out  the  sins  that  Christ  would  save  his 
people  from. 

The  laws,  statutes,  and  judgments,  were  recorded  on  parch  - 
ment  or  stone,  and  taught  to  all  the  people. 

These  were  the  Tests  of  Revelation  in  that  Era,  and  were 
in  every  man's  possession. 

Any  "dreamer  of  dreams,"  or  prophet,  whose  teachings 
and  requirements  conflicted  with  them,  was,  by  all  the  peo- 
ple, judged,  condemned,  and  "killed." 

The  whole  nation  were  to  seek  unto  God  in  the  order  of 
his  appointment,  {i.e.)  from  "between  the  cherubims" — 
two  golden  images  of  male  and  female.     These  were  the  me- 


2B  TESTS  OF   DIVINK 

diums  of  all  Divine  spiritual  manifestations  to  Israel.  All 
other  mediums  must  be  in  subjection  to,  and  in  union  with, 
them. 


CHAPTER  II. 


SHOWING      THE      CONSEQUENCES      OF     RECEIVING     AND      BEING 
GUIDED    BY    FALSE    REVELATIONS, 

The  false  gods  of  the  heathen  were  worshipped  almost 
universally  by  acts  of  sensuality,  in  some  form  or  other ;  this 
was  the  true  reason  of  the  continual  tendency  of  the  Israelites 
to  idolatry.  It  was  not  the  dumb  idol,  nor  the  stupid  and 
foolish  teachings  of  the  idol-priests,  that  thus  attracted 
them ;  but  the  worship,  that  allowed  and  encouraged  a  full 
gratification  of  their  sensual  appetites. 

The  following,  which  is  extracted  from  David  Benedict's 
History  of  all  Religions,  is  a  brief  statement  of  some  of  the 
abominable  indecencies  and  impurities  connected  with  Pagan 
mythology. 

"There  is  scarce  a  deity  (idol),  male  or  female,  in  ancient 
Pagan  mythology,  whose  history  does  not  disclose  something 
lascivious  and  impure ;  and  among  the  Hindoo  gods,  we  are 
continually  presented  with  debaucheries  and  crimes.  So 
shockingly  obscene  and  impure  is  their  worship,  that  Gopula, 
a  pundit  employed  in  the  Serampore  printing  office,  a  very 
respectable  man  among  the  Hindoos,  declared,  that  a  man  of 
character  was  often  ashamed  of  being  present,  and  that  if  ever 
he  remained,  he  concealed  himself  in  a  corner  of  the  temple. 
He  added,  that  a  song  was  scarcely  tolerated  which  did  not 
contain  the  most  marked  allusions  to  unchastity  ;  while  those 
which  were  so  abominable  that  no  person  could  repeat  them 
out  of  the  temple,  received  the  loudest  plaudits.  All  this 
was  done  in  the  very  face  of  the  idol. 

There  is  another  featui-e  in  this  system  of  idolatry,  which 


INSPIRATION.  29 

increases  its  pernicious  effects  on  the  public  manners :  the 
wars,  quarrels,  and  hcentious  intrigues  of  their  gods  are  all 
held  up,  in  images,  recitations,  songs,  and  dances,  at  the  pub- 
lic festivals." 

*'In  1S06,  says  Ward,  (in  his  Views,  &c.,)  I  was  present 
at  the  worship  of  the  goddess  Doorga,  as  performed  in  the 
house  of  Rajah  Chrishnu  at  Calcutta.  After  describing  the 
greatness  of  the  assembly,  and  profusion  of  the  offerings,  and 
the  many  strange  peculiarities  of  their  worship,  he  observes : 
*  The  whole  produced  on  my  mind  sensations  of  the  greatest 
hon-or.  The  dress  of  the  singers  ;  their  indecent  gestures  ; 
the  abominable  nature  of  their  songs  ;  the  horrid  din  of  their 
miserable  drum ;  the  lateness  of  the  hour ;  the  darkness  of 
the  place ;  with  the  reflection  that  I  was  standing  in  an  idol 
temple  ;  and  that  this  immense  multitude  of  rational  and  im- 
mortal creatures,  capable  of  superior  joys,  were,  in  the  very 
act  of  worship,  perpetrating  a  crime  of  high  treason  against 
the  God  of  Heaven,  while  they  themselves  believed  they 
were  performing  an  act  of  merit ;  excited  ideas  and  feelings 
in  my  mind,  Avhich  time  can  never  obliterate.' 

'*  *  I  should  have  given  in  this  place,  a  specimen  of  their 
songs  sang  before  the  images,  but  found  them  so  full  of  broad 
obscenity,  that  I  could  not  copy  a  single  line.  All  those  ac- 
tions which  a  sense  of  decency  keeps  out  of  the  most  inde- 
cent English  songs,  are  here  detailed,  sung,  and  laughed  at, 
without  the  least  sense  of  shame.  A  poor  ballad  singer  in 
England  would  be  sent  to  the  house  of  correction,  and  flog- 
ged, for  performing  the  meritorious  actions  of  these  wretched 
idolaters !' 

*'  The  reader  will  recollect  that  the  festivals  of  Bacchus 
and  Cybele  were  equally  noted  for  the  indecencies  practised 
by  their  worshippers,  both  in  words  and  actions. 

"The  Hindoo  Brahmins  have  contrived  to  unite  balls  and 
theatres,  and  satraments,  in  the  service  of  their  gods  ;  so  that 
the  gay  and  giddy,  the  thoughtless  and  profane,  find  in  their 
temples  gratification  and  enjoyment. 


80"  TESTS    OF    DIVINE 

"  The  lingu  worship  seems  the  chraax  of  depravity  and 
abasement,  in  this  system.  The  lingu  is  an  image  of  Shivu, 
in  the  form  of  a  sugar  loaf,  with  a  projection  at  the  base,  like 
the  mouth  of  a  spoon.  An  account  of  the  origin  of  this  wor- 
ship, even  when  refined  as  much  as  possible,  is  too  gross  to 
meet  the  public  eye ;  yet  the  daily  number  of  the  worship- 
pers of  this  scandalous  image  (even  among  the  Hindoo  wo- 
men) is  far  greater  than  the  worshippers  of  all  the  other  gods 
put  together. 

"  Well  might  Buchanan  say,  *  The  peculiar  attributes  of 
heathenism  are  obscenity  and  blood.' 

"  If  the  whole  world  as  known  to  us,  were  divided  into 
thirty-two  parts,  not  less  than  nineteen  of  these  parts  are  still 
inhabited  by  Pagans  and  idolaters."  (See  History  of  all  Re- 
ligions, by  David  Benedict — pages  24  to  26.) 

They  were  "  drawn  away  of  their  own  lusts  and  enticed," 
as  witness  Aaron's  having  made  a  golden  calf  when  Moses 
delayed  his  return  from  the  mount.  "The  people  sat  down 
to  eat  and  drink,  and  rose  up  to  play,"  original^  to  commit 
fornication.     (Exodus,  xxxii.  6  ;  and  see  Adam  Clarke.) 

The  same  things  are  practised  to  this  day  in  Abyssinia  and 
other  heathen  countries,  as  common  occurrences.  (See 
*'  Bruce's  and  Ward's  Travels.") 

Balaam  caused  Israel  to  sin  after  the  same  manner,  by  in- 
troducing the  daughters  of  Midian  into  the  camp  of  Israel. 
(Num.  XXV.  6,  and  xxxi.  16.) 

Thus  the  people  often  went  after  false  gcds,  and  became 
corrupted  with  all  manner  of  abominations,  until  they  brought 
destruction  upon  themselves,  which  carried  off  thousands  of 
them  at  a  time  ;  (see  Num.  xxv.  6,  9 ;  and  1  Cor.  x.  8  ;)for  God 
said  unto  them,  "  You  of  all  the  people  of  the  earth  have  I 
known;  therefore  I  will  punish  you  for  all  your  iniquities." 
(Amos,  iii.  2.)  The  violation  of  the  law,  in  the  abuse  of  the 
faculties  of  re2}roduction,  as  it  was  the  first,  so  has  it  ever 
been,  and  is  now,  the  most  universally  seducing  and  besetting 
sin  of  the  human  race. 


INSPIRATION.  81 

God  is  a  God  of  order,  and  not  of  such  confusion  as  has 
been  the  result  of  man's  seeking  f/ratijication  by  corrujytinf; 
the  fountain  of  his  existence. 

Therefore  Moses  pronounced  the  following  curses  upon  the 
Israelites,  which  should  result  as  a  consequence  of  their  dis- 
obedience to  the  rudimental  and  focal  law  of  their  Dispen- 
sation : — 

"  The  Lord  shall  send  upon  thee  cursing,  vexation,  and  re- 
buke, in  all  thou  settest  thine  hand  unto  for  to  do,  until  thou 
be  destro5^ed,  and  until  thou  perish  quickly,  because  of  the 
wickedness  of  thy  doings. 

"  The  Lord  shall  smite  thee  with  madness,  and  blindness, 
and  astonishment  of  heart ;  and  the  heaven  that  is  over  thy 
head,  shall  be  brass,  and  the  earth  that  is  under  thee  shall  be 

iron. 

"The  Lord  shall  make  thy  plagues  won'derful,  and  the 
plagues  of  tliy  seed,  even  great  plagues,  and  of  long  con- 
tinuance, and  sore  sicknesses.  He  will  bring  upon  thee  all 
the  diseases  of  Egypt  which  thou  wast  afraid  of;  and  they 
shall  cleave  unto  thee.  Also  every  sickness  and  every  plague 
which  is  not  written  in  the  book  of  this  law,  them  will  the 
Lord. bring  upon  thee,  untilthou  be  destroyed. 

**  And  the  Lord  shall  scatter  thee  among  all  people,  from 
the  one  end  of  the  earth  even  unto  the  other ;  and  thou  shalt 
become  an  astonishment,  a  proverb,  and  a  by-word  among  all 
nations."     (Deut.  xxviii.) 

These  are  the  terrible  consequences  of  forsaking  God, 
transgressing  the  laws  of  Moses,  changing  the  ordinances,  and 
breaking  the  "  everlaatiur/  covenant.^'  And  how  literally  and 
perfectly  these  threatened  curses  and  judgments  have  been 
executed  and  fulfilled,  the  past  history  and  present  condi- 
tion of  the  Jewish  nation  and  people,  furnish  irrefragable 
evidence. 

SUMMARY, 

Divine  revelation  always  taught  fallen  man  self-denial,  and 
tended  towards  perfect  purity,  justice,  and  love. 


82  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

But  the  false  revelations  of  the  heathen  led  them  to  wor- 
ship their  gods  by  acts  of  sensuality  and  self-indulgence. 
Idol  worship  is  devil  or  demon  worship.      (1  Cor.  x.  20.) 

This  was  the  true  cause  of  the  dereliction  of  Israel  from 
their  own  religion  to  idolatry. 

All  revelations  from  evil  spirits — false  religions — termi- 
nate in  the  violation  of  the  law,  and  the  abuse  of  the  faculties 
of  reproduction.  As  this  was  the  first,  so  is  it  the  most  be- 
witching, deceptive,  and  universally  besetting  sin  of  the 
human  race. 

The  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  scattering  of  the 
Jews  over  all  the  face  of  the  earth,  resulted  from  their  heark- 
ening to,  and  obeying  the  insinuations  of,  wicked  ministering 
spirits. 


INSPIRATION. 


* 


SECTION    III. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    LAW    OF    CHRIST,  CONTAINING    THE    RULES    OF 
THE    FIRST    CHRISTIAN    ERA. 

The  most  general  influx  of  demons  or  disorderly  spirits,  in 
every  Dispensation,  was  always  at  the  latter  end  of  it. 

Thus,  at  the  time  of  Christ's  first  appearing,  an  almost 
universal  state  of  communion  between  the  visible  and  invisible 
worlds  existed  ;  so  that  it  was  quite  common,  in  Judea,  for 
individuals  to  be  obcessed,  and  even  possessed  with  spirits, 
both  good  and  bad.* 

In  reading  the  New  Testament,  one  cannot  but  be  struck 
with  the  frequency  and  familiarity  with  wliich  spirits  and 
spiritual  things  are  spoken  of.  It  appears  that,  for  any  one 
to  be  possessed  of  spirits,  improperly  called  dcvils,f  was  as 
common  an  occurrence  in  those  days,  as  in  our  days  it  is  for 
a  person  to  have  a  fever :  from  which  it  is  evident  that  the 
evil  predominated.  Hence,  it  became  an  important  part  of 
Christ's  mission  to  close  the  door  of  that  Dispensation,  by 
casting  out  such  spirits,  and  prohibiting  their  return.  This 
power  he  not  only  exercised  himself,  but  he  also  delegated 
the  same  to  his  disciples.     (Mark,  xvi.  17.) 

All  spirits,  in  every  Dispensation,  should  be  subject  to  the 
established  order  of  God,  that  is,  to  the  true  Church  of  that 
Dispensation. 

In  each  Dispensation  there  was  an  increasing  development 
of  the  eternal  principles  of  huth,  produced  by  greater  dis- 

♦  See  Lightfoot.  f  H.  W.  Beecher. 

3 


84  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

plays  of  the  Divine  Spirit  and  Power ;  and  also,  a  further 
manifestation  of  purity,  justice,  and  holiness,  in  the  character 
of  its  recipients  :  each  one  not  only  confirming  the  truth  of  the 
revelation  of  its  predecessor ;  but  also  preparing  the  way  for, 
and  becoming  a  stepping  stone  to  its  successor.  (Matt. v. 
17—20.) 

It  was  Jesus  who  closed  the  door  to  the  Second,  and 
opened  the  door  to  the  Third,  Dispensation,  in  which  the 
spiritual  influx  far  exceeded  what  had  yet  been  upon  earth. 
Good  spirits  had  the  lead  and  ascendancy  for  a  season  :  the 
dead  were  raised  to  life ;  the  blind  were  restored  to  sight ; 
the  sick  were  healed ;  the  lepers  were  cleansed ;  and,  better 
than  all,  the  poor  had  the  Gospel  preached  to  them : 
(see  Matt.  xi.  4,  5  :)  and  finally,  so  great  was  the  outpouring 
of  the  spiritual  elements,  that  many  really  began  to  love  one 
another  in  deed  and  in  truth :  and  this  love  they  exhibited 
by  selhng  all  they  possessed,  and  forming  a  united  interest 
in  temporal  things  (see  Acts,  ii,  44,  45.)  Thus  Revelation 
WAS  THE  Foundation,  Love  the  Life,  and  Community  of 
Property  the  outward  Form  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
IN  the  beginning  of  the  Third  Dispensatio   , 


summary. 

All  spirits  should  be  in  subjection  to  the  Church  of  their 
Era. 

The  Mosaic  Church  fell,  and  thus  lost  the  power  to  regu- 
late or  cast  out  evil  spirits.  Therefore,  at  the  end  of  the 
Second  Era,  there  was  a  great  influx  of  spirits  in  Judea,  over 
whom  no  one  had  any  control. 

Jesus  opened  the  door  to  the  third  Era :  by  which,  hosts 
of  better  and  higher  spirit^*  were  admitted  to  earth.  It  was 
by  their  assistance  that  he  and  his  disciples  cast  out  evil 
and  ignorant  spirits ;  and  by  their  power  it  was,  that  the 
blind  saw,  the  lame  walked,  the  dumb  spake,  the  dead  were 
raised,  and  that  "even  devils  were  subject  unto  them," 


INSPIRATION.  35 

Thus,  a  further  Divine  revelation  was  the  foundation  of 
the  Third  Era.  Love  was  its  soul,  or  life  ;  and  community 
of  property  its  body,  or  outward  form. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ANTICHRIST. 


When  Jesus  Christ  was  ushered  into  the  world,  the  testi- 
mony that  he  was  the  true  Messiah — the  Divine  Teacher 
sent  of  God, — to  reveal  His  will  to  man,  in  a  far  higher 
order  than  had  yet  existed  on  earth,  formed  the  basis  upon 
which  rested  the  whole  superstructure  of  principles,  pre- 
cepts, and  practice,  of  that  Dispensation. 

As  these  were  inspirations  from  his  Heavenly  Father, 
"who  gave  him  commandment  what  he  should  do,  and 
what  he  should  speak,"  (John,  xii.  49,)  this  system  of  faith, 
principles,  precepts,  and  practices,  as  first  exhibited  in  his 
own  person,  and  then  embodied  in  the  Church,  brought  forth 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Comforter,  sent  to  guide  them  into 
all  truth, — temporal  and  spiritual, — formed  the  standard 
(or  rule)  by  which  to  judge  and  "  try"  all  succeeding  reve- 
lations, as  well  as  the  teachings  and  influences  of  every 
spirit,  whether  in  or  out  of  the  body,  throughout  all  the 
ages  of  that  Dispensation,  down  to  the  time  of  Christ's 
second  appearing. 

And  any  spirit,  or  angel,  or  man,  that  taught  or  teaches 
any  other  gospel,  or  principle,  or  practice,  than  what  had  its 
foundation  in  that  Church,  was  and  is  antichrist,  (See  Gal. 
i.  8.)  John  says,  "  Little  childien,  it  is  the  last  time  :  and  as 
ye  have  heard  that  antichrist  shall  come ;  even  now  are 
there  many  antichrists."  (1  John,  ii.  18.)  "For  many  de- 
ceivers are  entered  into  the  world,  who  confess  not  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh."    (2  John,  i.  7.)     He  also 


86  TESTO   OF    DIVINE 

exhorted  his  brethren  to  **  Believe  not  every  spirit ;  but  try 
the  spirits,  whether  they  are  of  God ;  because  many  false 
spirits  are  gone  out  into  the  world."  (1  John,  iv.  1.)  Thus, 
every  spirit  must  be  judged  and  tried  by  the  standard  and 
rules  appropriate  to  each  particular  Era. 

All  who  confessed,  by  a  life  conformable  thereto,  that 
Jesus  Christ  had  come  into  the  world,  and  that  he  taught 
the  true  principles  of  godliness  for  the  salvation  of  men, 
were  of  God.  But  those  who  denied  this,  in  word  or  works, 
were  "deceivers  and  antichrist." 

Christ  declared  himself  to  be  "  the  way,  the  truth,  and 
the  life,"  and  said,  **  No  man  cometh  to  the  Father  but  by 
me."  (John,  xiv.  6.)  Therefore  Christ,  {i.  e.,)  his  actual  life 
and  doctrines,  are  the  only  infallible  rule, — the  straight 
edo-e, — by  which  the  crooks  and  turns  of  all  and  every  spirit, 
in  or  out  of  the  body,  may  be  discovered.  All  in  the  primi- 
tive Church  who  walked  by  this  rule,  were  blessed  and  pro- 
tected of  God  ;  and  if  it  cost  them  their  lives,  "white  robes 
were  given  them,"  as  the  reward  of  their  faithfulness. 

Not  many,  however,  could  endure  the  cross  necessary  to 
walk  by  this  rule,  and  to  obey  the  spirits  that  testified  of 
these  principles  of  true  godliness  ;  but,  after  running  well  for 
a  season,  they  listened  to  the  false  spirits  that  were  "gone 
out  into  the  world,"  and,  through  false  teachers,  (whom 
Peter  and  other  of  the  Apostles  foretold  would  arise)  had 
been  led  to  believe  that  they  could  be  saved  by  a  j^rofession, 
without  actually  living  out  the  pure  and  self-denying  princi- 
ples of  the  Gospel  which  Christ  had  declared. 

This  being  agreeable  to  their  corrupt  propensities,  they 
followed  those  false  spirits  and  their  revelations,  and  rejected 
the  true.  And,  in  a  short  time,  to  rid  themselves  of  annoy- 
ance, by  those  teachers  who  brought  forth  true  revelations, 
enforcing  Christ  as  an  example,  and  faithfully  preaching  his 
word  of  self-denying  power  and  hfe,  the  ecclesiastical  coun- 
cils, under  the  great  antichrist  Constanttne,  decreed  that  all 
revelations  ceased  with  the  Apostles  ;  and  that  thenceforth 


INSPIRATION.  M 

they  must  depend  solely  upon  the  Itttcr,  which,  Paul  said, 
'•''  killcth  ;"  and  which  did  accordingly  kill  the  Christ  Spirit 
in  them,  and  "  afresh  crucify  and  put  him  to  open  shame  " 
before  all  the  heathen  nations  of  earth  for  the  last  thirteen 
or  fourteteen  centuries. 

SUMMARY. 

It  was  the  faith  of  Jesus  and  his  followers,  "  not  to 
believe  every  spirit ;  but  to  try  the  spirits." 

The  grand  test,  by  which  to  try  them,  was,  that  they 
should  believe  and  confess  that  "  Christ  had  come  in  the 
flesh,"  or  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth  and  in  his  true  Disciples. 
Every  spirit  that  could  stand  this  test  was  of  God.  But 
every  spirit  that  denied  this  truth,  either  did  not  know,  and 
therefore  was  icfnorant ;  or  did  know  it,  but  was  false.  All 
such  spirits  were  antichrist. 

The  principles,  doctrines,  precepts,  practice,  and  actual 
life  of  Christ  Jesus,  together  with  the  principles  and  laws, 
(or  tests)  of  the  two  preceding  Eras,  formed  the  infallible 
criterion  and  test  of  all  doctrines,  creeds,  and  religious  sys- 
tems, whether  purporting  to  come  through  spiritual  commu- 
nications, or  emanating  from  councils  and  ecclesiastical 
bodies. 

When  the  first  Christian  Church,  or  Church  of  the  Third 
Era,  fell ;  and  the  antichristian  kingdom  of  the  beast  was 
fully  set  up,  under  Constantine  ;  then  every  great  principle, 
doctrine,  and  test  of  the  First  two  Eras,  were  entirely  abro- 
gated, denied,  and  denounced,  by  the  Nicene  and  other 
subsequent  councils. 

They  first  destroyed  the  foundation  of  the  Church,  by 
voting  and  decreeing  that  revelation  had  ceased,  and 
that  the  canon  of  Scripture  was  closed  ;  and  then  they 
decided  that  thereafter  nothing  but  the  "  letter"  (bible)  that 
"killetb,"  should  remain  as  "the  rule  and  guide  of  faith  and 
practice"  to  Christendom.  And  thenceforth  "  they  would 
no  more  endure  sound"  sjnritual  "  doctrine." 


38  TESTS   OF  DIVINE 

Thus  the  Church  was  cut  off  from  all  Divine  communica- 
tion and  was  prepared  to  enter  upon  a  course,  and  to  enact 
scenes  of  persecution  and  bloodshed  against  all  who  should 
not  conform  to  its  orthodoxy. 

The  *' man  of  sin'*  was  now  in  the  temple  of  God,  or 
Church,  or  people.  Concupiscence,  or  the  lust  of  the  fleshy 
is  the  **  man  of  sin,"  that  sitteth  in  the  heart  of  every  pro- 
fessor of  Christianity  in  all  the  various  sects  and  denomina- 
tions of  the  so-called  Christian  world  ;  and  is  the  "  ahomlna- 
tion  of  desolation''''  that  occupies  the  heart  of  each  individual 
heathen,  and  every  heathen  temple. 

Christ  had  gone  to  be  (and  was)  absent  for  more  than 
twelve  hundred  and  sixty  years.  And  thus  is  seen  how 
complete  and  consummate  was  the  falling  away  of  the  first 
Christian  Church,  (even  by  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Con- 
stantine,)  which  was  certain  to  precede  the  second  appearing 
of  Christ,  at  the  end  of  the  prophetic  period. 


CHAPTER  III. 


SUBJECT    CONTINUED. 


From  this  time,  they  would  no  more  "  endure  sound  doc- 
trine ;  but,  having  itching  ears,  began  to  heap  to  themselves 
teachers  after  their  own  lusts,"  (2  Tim.  iv.  3)  by  establishing 
theological  institutions,  to  qualify,  by  a  vain  and  false  phi- 
losophy, carnal  young  men  to  interpret  the  Scriptures  by 
human  wisdom,  in  a  way  pleasing  to  the  basest  passions  of 
man's  fallen  nature ;  and  entirely  doing  away,  and  making 
the  cross  of  Christ  of  no  effect  by  their  traditions,  creeds, 
and  dogmas,  and  by  their  comments  and  commentaries  on 
Holy  Writ. 

And,  inasmuch  as  the  great  body  of  professed  Christians 
followed  the  **  pernicious  ways"  of  those  **  false  prophets 
and  teachers,"  to  whom  Peter  alludes,  (2  Peter,  ii.  1,  2,)  the 


INSPIRATION.  89 

Church  lost  the  true  spirit  of  revelation;  and  cut  itself  oflf 
from  all  communion  with  Christ  its  Head,  by  rejecting  the 
ministrations  of  all  those  spirits  who  were  sent  forth  to 
"minister,"  individually  and  collectively,  to  all  them  who 
should  be  called  to  be  the  "  heirs  of  salvation."    (Heb.  i.  14. 

Thus  was  consummated  the  ''falling  awaijy^  spoken  of  by 
the  Apostle,  that  should  certainly  precede  the  second  coming 
of  Christ ;  in  which  should  be  revealed  "  the  man  of  sin, 
the  son  of  perdition,  who  opposeth  and  exalteth  himself 
above  all  that  is  called  God,  or  that  is  worshipped  ;  so  that 
he,  as  God,  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  Gody  showing  himself 
that  he  is  God."  (2  Thes.  ii.  3,  4.)  **  Know  ye  not  that  ye 
are  the  temple  of  God  ?  and,  if  any  man  defile  the  temple  of 
God,  him  shall  God  destroy  ;  for  the  temple  of  God  is  holy ; 
which  temple  ye  are."  (1  Cor.  iii.  16,  17.)  **  Your  body 
is  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost."     (lb.  vi.  19.) 

Therefore,  as  man  individually,  and  the  Church  collec- 
tively, under  the  Gospel,  is  that  temple,  it  is  thus  incontro- 
vertibly  proved,  that  the  *'  man  of  sin"  is  something  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  professors  of  Christianity  that  they  highly 
esteem  "above  God,"  although  it  "is  an  abomination  in  hia 

Bight." 

And,  notwithstanding  that  such  persons  may  "justify 
themselves  before  men,  God  knoweth  their  hearts' "  lust. 
(Luke,  xvi.  15.)  "For  the  bed  is  shorter  than  a  man  can 
stretch  himself  on,  and  the  covering  narrower  than  he  can 
wrap  himself  in,"  (Is.  xxviii.  20,)  and  hide  from  the  All- 
seeing  Eye.  "  For  though  thou  wash  thee  with  nitre,  and 
take  thee  much  soap,  yet  thine  iniquity  is  marked  before  me, 
saith  the  Lord,"  (Jer.  ii.  22,)  "  neither  is  thine  iniquity  hid 
from  my  eyes."     (lb.  xvi.  17.) 

It  is  therefore  as  plain  as  the  sun  at  noon-day,  that  Con- 
cupiscence, or  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  is  the  god, — "the  man  of 
sin" — which  all  Christendom  has  bowed  down  to,  and  wor- 
shipped, in  preference  to  worshipping  the  true  and  living 
God  of  purity.     And   this,  too,   is  the  same  influence,  or 


^  TESTS    OF    DIVINE 

power,  or  goddess  of  lust —  Venus — that  is  and  always  has 
been  so  potent  in  the  heathen  temples,  whose  worship  oft- 
times  attracted  the  figurative  Israel,  to  their  shame,  confu- 
sion, and  final  destruction. 

This  was  also  alluded  to  by  Jesus,  in  his  parable  of  a  king 
going  to  a  far  country,  and  returning  again,  and  finding  his 
kingdom  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  who,  in  the  interim,  had 
killed  his  son,  and  then  given  themselves  up  to  a  riotous, 
self-indulging  life,  until  the  king  suddenly  returned,  and  exe- 
cuted upon  them  a  work  of  judgment.  (See  Luke,xix.  12 — 2*7.) 

Also  the  prophecies  of  Daniel  and  of  John,  both  of  whom, 
not  only  agree  in  the  great  event  of  supplanting  the  Church  of 
Christ  by  an  opposite  power,  under  different  names  and  sym- 
bols, as  "  a  beast  that  made  war  with  the  saints,  and  overcame 
them  ;" — "  the  abomination  'of  desolation  standing  where  it 
ought  not ;" — "  the  whore  of  Babylon  which  would  reign  over 
the  kings  of  the  earth,"  &c.  &c. ; — but  they  also  agree,  that 
the  time  or  duration  of  the  reign  of  this  antichristian  power, — 
in  which  there  would  be  no  true  Church  of  Christ  upon  earth — 
would  be  1290  years.  At  the  expiration  of  which  period,  the 
sanctuary,  or  temple,  or  Church,  "should  be"  progressively 
"  cleansed,  and  an  end  made  of  sin,  and  everlasting  right- 
eousness brought  m ;"  or,  in  other  words,  Christ,  who  had 
been  all  that  period  absent,  would  "  make  his  second  appear- 
ance" on  earth  "  to  those  who  look  for  him,  without  sin  unto 
salvation."     (Heb.  ix.  23.) 

SUMMARY. 

After  antichrist  had  gained  the  ascendency,  men  would 
"  no  longer  endure  sound  doctrine,"  and  "  the  cross  of 
Christ  was  made  of  none  effect"  by  the  commentaries  of  doc- 
tors of  divinity,  who  derived  their  authority  from  hierarchi- 
cal councils  and  ecclesiastical  institutions,  by  which  revela- 
tion was  denied  and  denounced,  and  sin  declared  to  be  the 
necessary  and  inevitable  concomitant  of  Christianity ;  to 
eradicate  which,  the  Church  possessed  no  power. 


INSPIRATION.  41 

Thus  the  Church  cut  itself  off  from  a  living  communion 
with  the  spirit  world,  and  thereby  consummated  the  "  falling 
away;"  and  thenceforth  the  "  man  of  sin"  sat  in  the  temple 
or  Church  of  God. — And,  as  the  people  was  that  Church, 
or  temple,  it  was  in  the  heart  of  each  and  every  individual 
thereof  that  the  "  man  of  sin"  sat  enthroned. 

This  "  man  of  sin"  is  represented,  under  different  appella- 
tions, by  Daniel  and  John,  viz :  "  the  beast,"  **  the  image  of  the 
beast,"  **  the  whore  of  Babylon,"  "  the  mother  of  harlots 
and  of  the  abominations  of  the  earth,"  &c.,  as  a  power  that 
would  rule  the  nations  until  Christ  should  make  his  second 
appearance  in  them,  to  "  destroy  it  with  the  Spirit  of  his 
mouth,  and  consume  it  with  the  brightness  of  his  appearing." 


S* 


42  TESTS  OF  DIVINE 


SECTION    IV. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  DIVINE  LAWS  OF  CHRIST,  AS  DEFINITIVE  RULES  OF  JUDG- 
MENT, PERFECTED  IN  THE  SECOND  CHRISTIAN  ERA,  OR  FOURTH 
AND  LAST  DISPENSATION. 

"  As  the  times  of  the  Highest  have  plain  beginnings  in 
wonders  and  powerful  works,  and  ending  in  effect  and  signs," 
(2  Esdras,  ix.  6,)  so,  in  the  latter  end  of  the  Third  Dispensa- 
tion, Jesus  informs  us,  there  would  be  a  general  rush  of 
spirits, — both  true  and  false,  and  good  and  bad, — upon 
earth ;  and  that,  near  the  close  of  the  first  Christian  Era,  and 
about  the  time  of  his  second  coming,  or  the  opening  of  the 
Fourth  and  last  Dispensation  or  Era,  *'  many  false  Christs  and 
false  prophets  would  arise,  who  would  show  great  signs  and 
wonders,  insomuch,  that  if  it  were  possible,  they  would  de- 
ceive even  the  very  elect ;"  (Matt.  xxiv.  24  ;)  that  is,  they 
would  draw  them  away  from  those  purifying  principles  which 
constituted  the  foundation  of  his  first  Church,  and  upon  which 
would  also  be  built  the  Church  of  his  second  coming. 

Consequently,  however  high  might  be  the  professions, 
or  marvellous  the  wonders  and  signs  of  these  false  Chris- 
tians; to  those  who  would  hearken  to  the  good  and  the 
true  spirits — the  ministers  of  the  shining  light  that  would  be 
the  harbinger  (see  Mai.  iii.  1)  of  Christ's  second  appearing — 
the  war7iing  ivord  h,  " Believe  them  not;'' — ''Go  not  after 
them.''  (Matt.  xxiv.  23  ;  and  Luke,  xvii.  23.)  "  By  their 
fruits  ye  shall  know  them,  for  every  good  tree  bringeth  forth 
good  fruit ;  but  a  corrupt  tree  bringeth  forth  evil  fruit.  A 
good  tree  cannot  bring  forth  evil  fruit ;  neither  can  a  corrupt 
tree  bring  forth  good  fruit."     (Matt.  vii.  17,  18,  20.) 


IN'SPI  RATION.  43 

Again,  the  Revelator  says,  *•  And  the  sixth  angel  poured 
out  his  vial,  and  I  saw  three  unclean  spirits,  like  frogs,  come 
out  of  the  mouth  of  the  dragon,  and  out  of  the  mouth  of  the 
beast,  and  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  false  prophet.  They  are 
the  spirits  of  devils  working  miracles,  wliich  go  forth  unto 
the  kings"  (or  leading  minds)  "  of  the  earth,  and  to  the 
whole  world,  to  gather  them  to  the  battle  of  that  great  day 
of  God  Almighty."     (Rev.  xvi.  12—14.) 

This  will  be  the  last  tremendous  struggle  between  the  pow- 
ers of  antichrist  and  all  other  corrupt  powers  of  the  world, 
and  those  powers  or  principles  that  are  preparing  the  w^ay  for, 
and  will  have  a  place  in,  the  kingdom  of  God  upon  earth.  In 
wliich  a  final  separation  between  the  elements  of  good  and 
evil,  and  between  true  and  false  revelation  proceeding  from 
these  two  sources,  will  be  effected. 

And,  is  it  not  manifest,  that  in  our  day,  there  is  an  unex- 
ampled influx  of  spirits  from  the  spirit  world  to  earth  ?  evi- 
dently betokening  that  it  is  the  end  of  the  Third  Dispensation, 
and  the  beginning  of  the  Fourth ;  and  that  a  condition  of  things 
precisely  similar  to  what  existed  at  the  close  of  the  Second 
Dispensation,  when  Christ  made  his  first  appearing,  is  the 
order  (or  rather  c?/5order)  of  the  day. 

When  men  or  women,  in  any  age,  invited  the  presence 
and  familiarities  of  spirits,  and  tampered  with  them,  for 
worldly  gain,  or  from  sinister  motives,  and  out  of  the 
Church's  order,  they  were  liable  to  be  obcessed ;  and  it  often 
happened  that  thus  the  spirits  gained  possession  of  persons 
who  could  not  disen<X'ic:e  themselves  from  them. 

And,  as  the  Church  of  each  Dispensation,  while  standing 
in  its  true  order,  possessed  the  power  to  cast  out  these 
spirits,  and  thereby  release  such  souls ;  it  followed  that,  by 
this  power,  or  test,  the  true  Chui'ch  of  each  Era  could  be 
known. 

The  heathen,  and  false  religionists,  attracted  spirits  by 
their  sorceries  and  incantations  ;  but  had  no  power  to  expel 
them.     The  superii^r  alone  could  govern  the  inferior. 


4^  TESTS   or   DIVINB 

There  was  a  class  of  persons  in  the  Jewish  Church,  called 
exorcists,  whose  profession  was  to  cast  out  spirits. — Adam 
Clarke  says,  *'  They  were  termed  Masters  of  the  Name,  that  is, 
the  name  of  Jehovah  ;  by  a  certain  pronunciation  of  which, 
they  believed  the  most  wonderful  miracles  could  be  wrought. 
And,  when  they  could  not  deny  the  miracles  of  our  Lord, 
they  attributed  them  to  his  knowledge  of  the  true  pronun- 
ciation of  this  most  sacred  name." 

When  the  Jewish  Church  lost  its  Divine  character,  these 
also  lost  the  power  of  exorcism. 

This  power  was  again  revealed  in,  and  possessed  by,  the 
first  Christian  Church.     The  same  author  says : 

**  Exorcisins^  or  adjurations  of  evil  spirits,  w'ere  frequent 
in  the  primitive  Church  ;  the  name  of  Jesus  was  that  alone 
which  was  used.  The  primitive  fathers  speak  strong  and  de- 
cisive words  concerning  the  power  of  this  name ;  and  how 
demons  were  tormented,  and  expelled  by  it,  not  only  from  in- 
dividuals, but  from  the  temples  themselves.  Exorcists  formed 
a  distinct  class  in  the  Church  :  hence  we  read  of  Presbyters, 
Deacons,  Exorcists,  Lectors,  and  Door-keepers."  (Com- 
ment. Acts,  xix.  14  &  IV.) 

When  "  certain  of  the  vagabond  Jews,  exorcists,  took  upon 
them  to  call  over  them  which  had  evil  spirits,  the  name  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  saying.  We  adjure  you  by  Jesus  whom  Paul 
preacheth, 

"There  were  seven  sons  of  one  Sceva,  a  Jew,  and  chief  of 
the  priests,  which  did  so.  And  the  evil  spirit  answered  and 
said,  Jesus  I  know,  and  Paul  I  know ;  but  who  are  ye  ? 

**  And  the  man  in  whom  the  evil  spirit  was,  leaped  on 
them,  and  overcame  them,  and  prevailed  against  them,  so 
that  they  fled  out  of  that  house,  naked  and  wounded. 

"  And  this  was  known  to  all  the  Jews,  and  Greeks  also, 
dwelling  at  Ephesus;  and  fear  fell  on  them  all;  and  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  was  magnified. 

^^  And  many  that  believed  came  and  confessed,  and  shewed 
their  deeds.     Many  also  of  them  which  used  curious  arts, 


INSPIRATION.  45 

brought  their  books  together,  and  burned  them  before  all 
men :  and  they  counted  the  price  of  them,  and  found  it  fifty- 
thousand  pieces  of  silver."     (Acts,  xix.  13  to  19.) 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  power  of  casting  out  spirits  had 
departed  from  the  Jewish  Church,  and  had  passed  over  to, 
and  rested  upon,  the  Church  of  the  Third  Era. 

And  the  people  were  convinced  that  that  Avhich  had  been 
glorious  in  its  day,  **was  no  longer  glorious,  by  reason  of  the 
glory  which  excelleth." 

It  is  by  no  means  improbable,  that  again,  in  the  progress 
of  the  work  of  the  present  spiritual  manifestations,  men  and 
women  will  become  possessed  by  spirits  from  whom  they 
will  not  be  able  to  free  themselves.  And,  should  that  be 
the  case,  it  is  very  certain  that  neither  Catholic  nor  Protest- 
ant churches  possess  the  power  to  cast  out  such  spirits  or 
demons. 

It  has  been  stated,  upon  the  authority  of  eye-witnesses^ 
that,  in  the  recent  case  of  Dr.  Phelps'  son,  at  Stratford, 
Conn.,  a  meeting  of  priests  and  deacons  was  called  to  exor- 
cise him ;  but  the  spirits  prevailed  against  and  broke  up  the 
meeting,  by  throwing  the  Bibles,  (their  talisman,)  with 
which  said  priests  and  deacons  were  furnished,  at  the  heads 
of  these  exorcists. 

Therefore,  if  the  power  to  cast  out  spirits  be  needed,  it 
must  be  sought,  not  in  the  mere  record  of  by-gone  Divine 
revelation,  but  in  the  Church  of  the  Fourth  Era,  which  ori- 
ginated in,  is  based  upon,  and  stands  by,  the  power  of  Divine 
revelation  itself. 

SUMMARY. 

As  each  Dispensation  possessed  a  Church  which  rested 
upon  Divine  revelation,  and  was  the  only  proper  avenue  to 
the  spirit  world ;  and  also  possessed  the  power  to  regulate  all 
other  revelations ; — when  such  Church  fell  from  its  union 
with  God,  then  no  power  remained  upon  earth  to  keep  the 
**  principalities  and  powers"  (Eph.  vi.  12)  of  the  spirit  world 


46  TPDSTS   OF   DIVINE 

in  order ;  consequently,  all  became  confusion  ;  and  the  whole 
race  of  man  rapidly  progressed  towards  utter  destruction. 

Therefore,  when  the  Mosaic  Church  had  become  corrupt. 
ed,  we  see  Saul,  its  head,  "seeking  unto  watches,"  (whom  it 
was  his  duty  to  have  destroyed,)  because  he  could  obtain  no 
response  **  from  between  the  cherubims."  Evil  spirits  had 
obtained  possession  of  the  earth,  Church  and  all. 

In  the  end  of  the  Second  Era,  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem corresponded  to  the  flood  at  the  end  of  the  First. 

The  Lord  said,  "  You,  of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  have 
I  known.  I  will  therefore  punish  you  for  all  your  iniquities." 
Other  nations,  born  in  ignorance  of  the  laws  of  their  creation, 
were  not  so  wicked,  though  equally  lost,  as  were  the  ante- 
diluvians and  the  Jews,  unto  whom  those  laws  had  been 
made  "known,"  by  revelation. 

Jesus,  by  casting  out  evil  spirits  before  they  had  obtained 
entire  possession  and  control,  saved  many  individuals  from 
death.  But,  w^hen  the  spirits  entered  into  the  sivine,  their 
union  was  so  complete,  that  death  inevitably  ensued  :  for  it 
is  the  nature  of  evil  to  destroy  life,  as  it  is  of  good  to  pre- 
serve it. 

And,  unless  there  be  some  good  in  a  man,  an  evil  spirit 
cannot  be  cast  out  of  him. 

There  is  no  contradiction  in  the  truth — God. 

Jesus  came  not  to  destroy  or  change  any  law,  or  rule,  or 
test,  of  revelation  that  belonged  to  an 3^  previous  Era ;  but  to 
add  thereto  his  own  life  and  doctrines.  For,  not  only  did 
eacli  Era  retain  all  the  righteous  principles  of  the  previous 
ones ;  but  itself  possessed  more  laws,  rules,  and  tests  than 
they  did. 

Thus  the  tests  accumulate  in  each  succeeding  Dispensa- 
tion ;  and  of  consequence,  the  spirituality  of  the  work  of  God 
increases. 

Jesus  predicted  that,  at  the  end  of  the  Third  Era,'  there 
would  arise  many  false  Christs  and  false  prophets,  who 
would  show  great  signs  and  wonders. 


INSPIRATION.  4T 

And  John  said,  that  three  unclean  spirits,  like  frogs, 
(amphibious ;  that  is,  they  would  mix  up  the  earthly  order 
of  generation,  and  the  spiritual  order  of  regeneration  to- 
gether— land  and  water)  would  go  forth  to  the  kings  of  the 
earth,  and  all  the  powers  of  the  world,  and  would  gather 
them  toorether  to  the  great  battle  between  these  two  orders, — 
the  earthly  and  spiritual ; — and  then  would  come  the  final 
trial  and  struggle  between  good  and  evil,  and  between  true 
and  false  revelation.  Then  would  be  the  greatest  spirit- 
manifestation  the  earth  ever  witnessed.  (See  Rev.  xvi.  13 
to  end.) 

This  has  now  commenced,  and,  as  before  remarked,  is  the 
order,  or  rather  disorder,  of  the  day. 

Consequently,  there  never  was  a  time  when  an  unerring 
rule,  or  test  of  revelation,  was  so  imperatively  demanded,  or 
so  essential  to  man,  as  the  present. 

For  many  sincere,  honest-minded  persons  are  bewildered 
and  confounded,  by  the  innumerable  spiritual  phenomena 
that  surround  them ;  of  which  their  Churches  or  spiritual 
guides  can  give  no  explication. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ALL    NATIONS    BLESSED  THROUGH   THE   CHURCH 
OF   THEIR   ERA. 

Now",  although  between  the  destruction  of  the  first  Gospel 
temple,  or  Church,  and  the  rebuilding  of  the  second  Gospel 
temple,  or  Church,  (of  which  the  two  temples  of  Solomon 
and  Zerubbabel  Avere  striking  figures,)  there  was  evidently 
no  place  for  a  true  Christian  Church ;  yet  Revelation,  not- 
withstanding it  was  denied  and  rejected  by  the  false  Church, 
wa.<<  not  entirely  driven  from  the  earth.     "The  spirits  of  the 


48  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

heavens"  (Zach.  vi.  5)  caused  the  "two  witnesses,"  in  a  suf- 
fering state,  to  prophesy  of  the  Church  which  had  been,  and 
of  the  Church  which  was  to  come ;  nothing  more,  except  to 
testify  against  that  which  then  existed  as  antichrist.  And 
however  bright  and  shining  might  have  been  the  light  in 
which  they  rejoiced,  it  could  only  be  for  a  season,  for  there 
was  no  basis  for  them  to  build  upon — the  foundations  of  the 
first  Gospel  temple  having  been  razed,  and  those  of  the  se- 
cond not  being  yet  laid.  Therefore,  **  if  the  foundations  be 
destroyed,  what  can  the  righteous  do?  "     (Ps.  xi.  3.) 

And,  in  this  day,  any  sect  or  body  of  people,  however 
much  of  the  Spirit  and  truth  they  may  possess,  who  are  not 
prepared  to  claim  that  they  are  in  the  Fourth  and  last  Dis- 
pensation, and  that  Christ  has  made  his  second  appearing  in 
them,  must  needs  be  content  with  the  character  of  "  witness- 
es," who  pray  for  the  kingdom  of  God  "to  come."  And  all 
such  may  rest  assured,  that  something  better  awaits  them  in 
the  future,  than  anything  yet  in  their  possession :  for  every 
degree  of  goodness  and  truth  in  any  people,  is  of  God,  and 
leads  towards  Him. 

Revelation  is  the  "rock"  upon  which  the  true  Church  of 
Christ  is  built.  And  this  Church  is  the  most  direct  emana- 
tion from  God  that  has  yet  been  upon  earth.  It  is  the 
"kingdom"  which  the  God  of  heaven  has  "set  up;"  (see 
Dan.  ii.  44,  and  vii.  2Y,)  and  which  will  finally  supplant  all 
human  systems,  "not"  indeed  "by might  or  power"  {carnal 
weapons),  but  by  "God's  Spirit."  In  it,  "righteousness  and 
peace  have  met  together ;  and  mercy  and  truth  have  kissed 
each  other;"  (Ps.  Ixxxv.  10);  and  from  it  goes  forth  the 
law  of  the  inherent  rights  of  man  to  all  parts  of  the  world : 
and  the  living  Word  of  the  Lord  from  thence,  is  the  Angel 
that  is  enlightening  the  earth.     (See  Rev.  xiv.  6.) 

This,  "  the  new  Creation,"  is  the  most  beautiful  and  perfect 
system  of  principles  and  order,  in  both  temporal  and  spiritual 
things,  that  has  been  witnessed  by  man  since  the  world  be- 
gan.    A  new  earthly  order,  for  the  supply  of  his  physical 


•     i 


INSPIRATION,  49 

wants ;  and  a  new  spiritual  order,  for  tlie  satistying  of  his 
spiritual  nature:  a  Millennium.  Therefore,  it  is  a  system  of 
which  the  natural  creation,  with  all  its  laws  and  principles, 
and  its  immutable  and  unchangeable  order,  is  the  most  direct 
and  perfect  type. 

And  although,  as  has  been  observed,  the  Church  origin- 
ated from,  is  based  upon,  and  sustained  by,  Divine  revela- 
tion, in  a  much  higher  sense  than  was  the  Mosaical  one ;  yet, 
like  it,  there  are  certain  first  principles  in  it  which  are  clearly 
understood  by  every  individual  member  of  the  body,  "  from 
the  greatest  of  them  even  unto  the  least,"  as  was  promised 
of  the  Lord,  when  he  said.  He  would  "  make  a  new  covenant 
with  the  house  of  Israel :  not  according  to  the  old  covenant," 
(Avhich  he  made  with  the  natural  man,  in  the  earthly  order 
of  the  first  Adam,  and  renewed  under  the  Mosaic  economy, 
respecting  the  w'ork  of  jyrocreation,)  "  which  my  covenant 
they  brake,  saith  the  Lord.  For  I  will  put  my  law  into 
their  inward  parts,  and  write  it  in  their  hearts  ;  and  will  be 
their  God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people.  For  I  will  forgive 
their  iniquity,  and  I  will  remember  their  sin  no  more."  (Jer. 
xxxi.  31  to  34.) 

And,  "  if  there  should  arise  a  prophet,  or  a  dreamer  of 
dreams,"  who  should  shew  signs  and  wonders,  which  should 
even  come  to  pass,  or  one  that  should  have  visions,  or  reve- 
lations, which  tend  to  cause  any  soul  to  violate  the  least  of 
these  well-known  principles ;  then,  although  it  should  be  the 
highest  member  of  the  body,  spiritual  death  and  separation 
would  be  the  inevitable  consequence.  For  the  true  **  elect" 
cannot  be  deceived  by  either  evil  or  seducing  spirits,  because 
they  are  the  children  of  Revelation,  and  are  familiar  with 
spirits  and  "  spiritual  manifestations,^''  in  all  their  forms. 

Ho\v,  then,  can  dark,  ignorant,  or  evil  spirits  deceive  those 
who  are  always  accompanied  by  angels  of  hght,  and  by  the 
spirits  of  those  who,  while  on  earth,  were  made  perfect  by 
the  cross  of  Christ  ?  (See  Heb.  xii.  22,  23.)  Herein  is  seen 
the  fulfilment  of  the  ancient  prophecy  :  "  And  Saviours  shall 


60  TESTS    OF   DIVINE 

come  up  on  Mount  Zion,  to  judge  the  mount  of  Esau  ;  and 
the  kingdom  shall  be  the  Lord's."  (Obad.  21.)  It  is  thus 
that  "judgment  shall  be  given  to  the  saints  of  the  Most 
High;"  and  that  "the  saints  shall  judge  the  world;"  yea, 
and  "judge  anrjels^  that  is,  every  spirit  that  speaks  to  or 
through  man.      (See  Dan.  vii.  22  ;  and  1  Cor.  vi.  2,  3.) 

And  herein  is  the  oracle  of  the  "  Urim  and  Thummim"  re- 
stored in  its  true  spiritual  order;  by  which  judgment  can  be 
rendered  in  righteousness  and  truth. 

But  no  individual  can  possess  this,  except  he  be  in  union 
with  the  Church  of  the  living  God,  as  established  in  this 
"  latter  day  of  glory." 

SUMMARY. 

There  had  been  two  Jewish  temples  prefiguring  the  two 
Christian  Churches.  And  as  both  the  temples  were  destroy- 
ed, so  was  the  first  Christian  Church,  to  which  properly  be- 
longed the  power  to  open  and  shut  heaven — the  sphit  world. 

That  power  continued  partially  to  rest  upon  the  **  two  wit- 
nesses," who  existed  (and  could  only  lyroi^liesy)  between  the 
destruction  of  the  first  and  the  establishment  of  the  second 
Christian  temple. 

These  witnesses  could  and  did  torment  with  the  truth  the 
subjects  of  the  beast;  but  could  nothuild;  for  the  beast 
reigned,  and  he  destroyed  whatever  (and  as  fast  as)  they 
built.  And  therefore,  the  foundations  being  destroyed,  even 
the  righteous  witnesses  could  not  do  any  thing  besides  de- 
liver their  testimony  and  suffer  martyrdom ;  or  be  overcome 
by  the  beast  or  his  image,  and  thus  lose  their  spiritual  life. 

But,  now  that  the  second  Christian  temple  is  being  built, 
the  foundations  of  which  are  firmly  laid  in  the  power  and  wis- 
dom of  God,  the  witnesses  have  all  become  dead  bodies,  and 
constitute  the  "  image  of  the  beast" — Protestant  sects — and 
a  general  influx  from  the  spirit  world  has  begun  upon  earth, 
with  neither  Church  nor  even  witnesses  to  regulate  it. 

And  there  will  yet  be  such  a  time  of  trouble  to  the  ^ene- 


INSPIRATION.  51 

rative  man,  as  has  never  been  upon  eartli  before.  (Mat.  xxiv. 
21.) 

And  finally,  men  will  learn  that  the  Church  of  the  Second 
Appearing  of  Christ  is  the  true  Church  of  the  Fourth  Era,, 
to  which  rightfully  and  exclusively  pertains  the  ordering  and 
regulating  all  spiritual  powers  and  beings. 

For,  in  and  through  that  Church,  if  at  all,  every  nation  of 
the  earth  will  be  blest :  for  *'  the  law  will  go  forth  from 
Zion,  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem,"  to  all  peo- 
ple, according  to  the  figure  of  the  natural  Israel. 


CHAPTER    III. 

URIM   AND  THUMMIM. 

Jesus  Christ  testified,  "  I  am  not  come  to  destroy  the  law, 
but  to  fulfil  it,"  that  is,  the  spirit  and  righteous  principles  of 
the  law ;  and  to  advance  them  to  far  higher  degrees  of  per- 
fection, by  a  fuller  display  of  Divine  revelations  and  power. 
Thus  also,  in  this  Dispensation,  his  Divine  Spirit  embraces  all 
the  righteous  principles  of  the  three  former  Eras ;  and,  by 
increasing  the  inspired  revelations,  and  giving  a  superior  flow 
of  Divine  light  and  power,  he  carries  them  out  in  their  per- 
fected order :  thus  completing  the  foundation  and  work  which 
God  began  in  him,  in  his  first  appearing.  (See  Eph.  ii.  20.) 
The  leading  principle  of  this  foundation  is, — *'  Christ  has 
appeared  the  second  time,  without  sin,  unto  salvation ;"  and 
the  seal  of  judgment  is, — "  the  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are 
his,"  and  "  Let  every  one  that  nameth  the  name  of  Christ, 
depart  from  all  iniguitg.'*  (2  Tim.  ii.  19.)  All  professed 
revelation  or  inspiration,  whatever  its  source,  must  be  judged 
by  this  rule.  And  any  revelation  that  sanctions  the  violation 
of  the  law  of  nature,  as  already  set  forth,  is  not  of  God;  but 


52  TESTS   OF    DIVINE 

is  from  false  or  ignorant  spirits,  -who  are  still  in  the  lost  and 
benighted  elements  of  the  world. 

For  it  is  the  breach  of  this  law  that  produces  those  "fleshly 
lusts  which  war  against  the  soul"  (1  Pet.  ii.  11  ;)  which  lusts 
led  to  the  destruction  of  the  old  world ;  and  to  the  overthrow 
of  the  cities  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah ;  and  lie  at  the  bottom 
of  all  the  abommations  of  the  heathen  nations.  It  was  a 
*'  generation  who  had  eyes  full  of  adultery,  and  that  could  not 
cease  from  sin,"  (2  Pet.  ii.  14,)  that  "  killed  the  Prince  of  life." 
(Acts,  iii.  15.)  And  from  this  foul  source,  according  to  the 
Apostle  James,  (iv.  1,)  "proceed  all  wars  and  fightings," 
private  and  public. 

This  it  was  that  caused  the  fall  of  the  primitive  Church ;  as 
is  evident  from  the  reproofs  given  by  the  Spirit  to  the  "  seven 
Churches  in  Asia ;"  (see  Rev.  ii.  &  iii. ;)  and  this  it  is  which, 
ever  since  that  event,  has  been,  day  and  night,  accusing  the 
servants  of  God  before  Him.  (See  Rev.  xii.  10.)  And  how 
frequently  it  brings  even  the  professed  "  ministers  of  Christ" 
in  the  kingdom  of  the  beast,  into  public  disgrace,  let  the 
dail}'-  prints  declare.  Therefore,  any  person  bringing  forth 
a  revelation  teaching  that  a  true  Christian  can  still  follow 
the  first  Adam  in  the  work  of  generation,  is  either  deceived, 
or  is  a  deceiver ;  as  also  is  he  who  teaches  that  he  can 
indulge  in  ambition,  pride,  or  the  vain-glory  of  the  world. 

For,  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  there  is  a  revelation  of  meek- 
ness, humility,  and  of  mortification  to  the  proud  and  lofty 
nature  of  man  ;  also  to  the  self-exalting  principles  of  a  false 
;philosophy,  which  no  doubt  is  often  derived  from  a  class  of 
materialistic  and  infidel  spirits  in  the  lower  spheres  of  the 
spiritual  world,  who  have  never  found  a  relation  to  the  true 
resurrection  work  of  God ;  but  are  some  of  **  the  dead," 
who  have  not  yet  believed  in  Christ,  nor  have  ever  heard 
"  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God."  "  Marvel  not  at  this ;  for 
the  hour  is  coming,  in  the  which,  all  that  are  in  the  graves" 
(in  the  spirit  world)  **  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come 
forth ;  they  that  have  done"  and  continue  to  do  "  good,  unto 


INSPIRATION.  55 

the  resurrection  of  life  ;  and  they  that  have  done"  and  con- 
tinue to  do  "  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of  damnation." 
(John,  V.  28,  29.) 

Therefore,  when  Jesus  was  "  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  he 
was  quickened  by  the  Spirit ;  by  which  also  he  went  and 
preached  to  the  spirits  in  prison  who  were  disobedient  to 
Noah's  righteous  preaching."  (1  Pet.  iii.  18,  19.)  From 
which  fact  it  appears,  that  the  wicked  antediluvians,  **  every 
imagination  of  whose  heart  was  only  evil,"  and  who  had  been 
tormented  for  centuries  by  their  own  ungodly  lusts  and 
wicked  passions  raging  within  and  among  them  "  like  un- 
quenchable fires" — were  yet  in  a  salvable  condition ;  as  it  is 
certain  that  our  Saviour  would  not  have  preached  to  them, 
had  it  not  been  possible  for  them  to  obey. 

As  saith  Isaiah,  (chap.  ix.  2)  "The  people' that  walked  in 
darkness  have  seen  a  great  hght;  and  they  that  dwell  in  the 
land  of  the  shadow  of  death,  upon  them  hath  the  light  shined." 
And  ''  for  this  cause  was  the  Gospel  preached  also  to  them 
that  are  dead,  that  they  might  be  judged  according  to"  (or 
in  the  same  manner  as)  "  men  in  the  flesh,"  but  "  live  accord- 
ing to  God  in  the  spirit;"  (1  Pet.  iv.  6)  ;  that  was  the  object. 

But  what  ministers  of  error  and  evil  such  lost,  deofraded 
spirits  can  be,  to  those  who  are  accessible  to  them,  it  is 
needless  to  expatiate  upon.  Who  is  it  that  is  not  in  danger 
of  being  led  astray  by  some  of  them  ?  None  but  the  "  elect" 
are  safe,  who,  "lest"  even  ''they  enter  into  temptation,"  must 
watch  and  pray,"  to  "  make  their  calling  and  election  sure." 
(2  Pet.  i.  10.) 

For  the  false  philosophy  emanating  from  these  infidel 
spirits  is  "after  the  rudiments  of  the  world,  and  not  after 
Christ,"  (Col.  ii.  8)  which  philosophy  leads  souls  into 
a  labyrinth  of  darkness ;  and,  under  the  sanction  of  a 
pretended  Divine  inspiration,  teaches  that  there  is  no  evil 
spirits,  nor  evil  of  an2/  kind,  except  such  as  has  been  created 
by  God,  or  man  ;  and  that,  after  death,  all  will  be  happy, 
without  any  reference  to,  or  being  made  partakers  of,  a  work 
of  true  repentance  (which  leads  souls  to  confess  and  forsake 


6i  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

all  sin) ;  without  suffering  with  Christ,  and  dying  to  a  sinful 
nature,  as  he  died  to  it ;  and  without  finding  salvation  as  the 
effects  of  their  oivn  true  travel  of  soul :  forgetting  that,  "  into 
the  holy  city  nothing  can  enter  which  worketh  abomination, 
or  that  love  til  or  raaketh  a  lie.'*     (Rev.  xxi.  27.) 

The  doctrine  that  "  there  is  no  evil,''''  entirely  abrogates  ihe 
teaching  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  was  exemplified  by  his  life,  suf- 
ferings, and  violent  death,  and  which  showed  that  both  good 
and  evil  had  a  jyositive  eternal  existence  ;  and  that,  as  the  ele- 
ments of  good  concentrate  in  and  proceed  from  an  absolutely 
good  Being,  so  do  the  elements  of  evil  concentrate  in  and  pro- 
ceed from  a  being  absolutely  evil.  And  it  was  equally  impos- 
sible for  the  good  Being  to  create,  or  originate  (directly  or  in- 
directly) an  antagonistic  being  or  element,  as  it  was  for  that 
antagonistic  being  or  element  to  create  the  Author  and  cle- 
ment of  all  good.  For  the  same  fountain  can  not  send  forth 
sweet  water  and  bitter.  And  Jesus  affirmed,  that  "  men  do  not 
gather  grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles,"  for  the  simple, 
though  cogent,  reason,  that  "  an  evil  tree  cannot  bring  forth 
good  fruit,  any  more  than  can  a  good  tree  bring  forth  evil 
fruit."  As  also  in  his  parable  of  the  earth,  which  he  repre- 
sents as  a  field,  in  which  good  seed  was  sowed,  but  in  which 
tares,  or  evil  seed,  was  also  sowed,  by  an  enemy.  Thus 
arguing,  that,  if  there  had  been  no  foreign  enemy  to  God  in 
existence,  no  such  evil  seed  would  or  could  have  been  found 
in  the  earth.  Nor,  indeed,  would  the  idea  of  evil,  had  there 
been  no  antitype  th.ereuf,  ever  have  entered  the  human 
soul. 

A  writer,  recently,  in  attempting  to  prove  that  there  is 
no  such  thing  as  evil  in  or  out  of  this  world,  observes,  "If 
w^e  admit  the  existence  of  evil  at  all,  we  must  admit  that 
God  is  the  Author  of  it,"  and  *'  that  what  is  called  evil  is 
comparative  good,  or  good  in  its  incipient,  incompleted,  and 
undeveloped  forms."  These  remarks  he  grounds  upon  the 
fact,  that  mankind  can  and  may  progress  from  bad  to  better, 
and  so  onward. 

But  if  that  which  does  not  possess  an  acrid  quality  cannot 


INSPIRATION.  55 

impart  or  transmit  it,  so  neither  can  God,  who  is  essential, 
absolute,  and  unadulterated  good,  ever  exhibit  outwardly,  in 
his  creation,  that  Avhich  is  opposite  to,  and  has  no  existence 
in.  Himself — evil. 

Again,  good  cannot  be  evil,  nor  can  evil  be  good,  even  in 
an  incipient  state ;  nor  can  good  change  to  and  become  evil, 
or  evil  change  to  and  become  good  ;  any  more  than  dark- 
ness can  become  light,  or  than  light  can  become  darkness. 
Darkness  may  give  place  to  light,  and  evil  may  be  removed 
and  give  place  to  good,  but  cannot  possibly  mix  therewith. 
For  the  principles  or  elements  of  good  and  evil  are  always 
necessarily  distinct  and  antagonistic,  being  never  in  union  or 
assistant  of  each  other,  any  more  than  are  light  and  dark- 
ness, truth  and  erroi-,  ease  and  pain,  or  life  and  death. 

Man,  having  been  originally  created  **  very  good,"  if  he 
had  never  yielded  to  the  evil  suggestions  of  a  foreujn  enemy y 
and  thus  become  a  subject  of  moral  and  spiritual  darkness 
and  evil, — sin,  sorrow,  and  sickness,  sighing  and  tears,  war 
and  slavery,  and  famine  and  pestilence,  together  with  all  the 
thousands  of  secondary  sources  of  human  misery,  would  have 
been  as  far  from  mankind  as  they  ever  will  be,  in  the  con- 
summation of  the  work  of  redemption — the  Millennium. 

Many  minds,  well  intentioned,  have  conceived  the  idea 
that,  if  mankind  had  been  created  entirely  and  positively 
good,  they  could  not  have  progressed.  Every  thing  in  na- 
ture testifies  against  this  error  ;  and  the  unhmited  faculties 
of  the  human  soul  especially  bear  witness  to  the  trutliless- 
ness  of  this  position.  Good  may  be  good,  without  any  mix- 
ture of  evil,  and  yet  be  eternally  expansive  and  progressive 
in  its  nature  and  growth. 

And  shall  we  say,  that,  bec-uise  good  can  expand,  increase, 
and  continue  its  augmentations,  it  therefore  is  or  was  incipi- 
ent evil  ? 

Good  is  good  in  all  the  different  stages  and  processes 
through  which  it  may  pa^s;  as  is  proved  by  its  happifying 
effects  upon  all  sensuous  existences,  from  the  embryo  tu  the 


56  TEOTS   OF   DIVINE 

highest  state  of  physical,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  develop- 
ment. So  also  is  evil  evil  in  all  the  different  stages  through 
which  it  may  progress ;  as  is  evidenced  by  the  pain,  suffer- 
ing, and  unhappiness,  to  which  all  things  and  persons  are 
subject,  in  proportion  as  they  are  under  its  influence. 

The  practical  effects  of  charging  upon  God  the  creation  of 
evil,  or  (which  is  tantamount)  disbeheving  in  and  denying 
the  existence  thereof,  must  be,  to  throw  souls  off  their  guard 
in  relation  to  its  pernicious  influences  and  wily  machinations. 
If  a  disease  that  is  well  hnoivn  is  thereby  half  cured  ;  then 
the  converse  of  this  proposition  is  also  true ;  and  so  dread- 
ful a  disease  as  evil  being  totally  unlmoivyi,  and  even  mis- 
taken for  positive  ffood,  by  intelligent  souls,  must  be  tenfold 
more  dangerous  to  them,  as  free  agents,  who  are  really 
placed  between,  and  subject  to,  the  suggestions  and  draw- 
ings of  intelligent  agents  in  both  elements, — good  and  evil, — 
then  it  would  be  to  such  as  are  fully  enlightened  in  regard 
to  their  true  position. 

It  is  a  question,  whether  the  doctrine  of  710  evil  be  not  one 
of  the  most  radically  dangerous  that  has  ever  been  broached 
to  or  by  the  human  mind.  It  certainly  is  the  antipodes  of 
what  Christ  and  his  Apostles  taught  upon  that  subject. 

Jesus  said  :  "  What  I  say  unto  you,  I  say  unto  all,  Watch 
and  pray,  that  ye  enter  not  into  temptation ;"  and  "  Except 
a  man  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  daily,"  and  even 
*'  hate  his  own  life  also,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple."  To 
the  Jews  he  said,  "  Ye  are  of  your  father  the  devil ;  and  the 
lusts  of  your  father  ye  will  do."  The  Apostle  exhorts, 
"Be  sober,  be  vigilant,  for  your  adversary,  the  devil,  goeth 
about  as  a  roaring  lion,  seeking  whom  he  may  devour." 
*'  To  him  that  overcometh,'*  said  Jesus  Christ,  "  will  I  give 
to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life."  These,  and  many  other  texts  of 
similar  import,  possess  no  sense  or  meaning  at  all,  except 
upon  the  assumption  that  two  opposite  powers  and  principles 
do  exist.  And  that  man  is  not  merely  a  non-progressed 
being  in  good ;  but  that  he  is  a  bona  fide  free  agent,  standing 


INSPIRATION.  67 

between,  subject  to,  and  continually  operated  upon  b}^  two 
antagonistic  elements  and  bein-^s  therein — good  and  evil. 

It  is  not  possible  to  conceive  of  a  greater  insult  being 
offered  to  the  human  understanding,  than  is  the  attempt 
that  is  now  so  sedulously,  ingeniousl}^  and  extensively  being 
made,  to  convince  and  satisfy  it,  that  all  the  evil  of  lying, 
robbery,  murder,  and  rapine  ;  all  the  per6dy  and  oppression ; 
all  the  gluttony,  drunkenness,  and  lechery  ;  the  riches  and  po- 
verty ;  the  luxury  and  starvation  ;  and  the  impiety  and  ungod- 
liness, that  the  past  and  present  history  of  mankind  unfold, 
are,  and  always  have  been,  from  a  perfectly  good  source  ; 
or  that  they  are  merely  the  result  of  non-development  in 
good, — a  necessary  state  and  stage  in  the  process  of  pro- 
gression God  ward  ;  and  are  therefore  the  seed — the  germinal 
sources  and  incipient  stages — of  pence,  purity,  righteousness, 
and  love — true  religion. 

This  is  really  commingling  and  confounding  opposite  and 
contrary  qualities  and  things  ;  if  not  overturning  the  founda- 
tions of  sanity  in  the  human  mind. 

Good  and  evil  exist  abstractly,  and  also  manifestly. 
There  are  principles  of  good  and  evil ;  and  these  are  reduced 
to  actions — facts — by  intelligent  beings.  There  is  the  same 
amount  and  kind  of  evidence  in  proof  of  the  existence  of  the 
one  that  there  is  by  which  to  prove  the  existence  of  the 
other.  Love  and  hatred,  peace  and  war,  forgiveness  and 
revenge,  benevolence  and  cup!dit)%  chastity  and  lust,  etc.  d:c., 
have  each  and  all  an  equally  positive  and  tangible  existence. 
Persons  subject  to  these  passions  and  principles  are  real  en- 
tities. 

Upon  the  hypothesis  that  either  one  of  these  had  a  he- 
ginning^  the  other  must  have  c;  eated  it  out  of  nothing  ;  for 
it  is  equally  as  absurd  to  suppose  that  real  evil  could  be 
made  out  of  real  good,  as  it  is  to  suppose  that  real  good 
could  be  made  out  of  real  evil. 

Also,  it  is  not  a  whit  le^s  illogical  to  assume,  tliat  the  evil 
principles  and  elcmenls  do  exist,  but  that  I  here  i^  no  unori- 
3 


58  TESTS    OF    DIVINE 

ginated  evil  being  in  them,  than  it  would  be  to  suppose  that 
the  good  principles  and  elements  exist,  but  that  there  is  no  un- 
originated  good  Being  therein,  who  directs  and  controls  them. 

To  attempt  to  evade  the  absurdity  of  the  proposition,  that 
either  of  these  principles  or  beings  created  its  own  opposite 
out  of  nothing,  by  saying  they  first  produced  good  or  evil 
beings,  and  that  these  created  their  own  opposites,  is  un- 
reasonable and  disingenuous. 

If  evil  he  evil,  then  it  was  an  evil  thought  and  design,  in 
the  mind  of  the  Creator, — God — out  of  which  He  created  it, 
and  first  brought  it  into  existence ;  whether  He  Himself  did 
it  directly,  or  whether  He  did  it  by  producing  another  being 
— man — to  do  it  for  Him. 

An  acorn  could  just  as  easily  develop  itself  into  an  apple 
tree,  as  (if  no  independent  principle  and  being  of  evil  have 
any  existence)  can  man  progress  or  develop  himself  into 
a  being,  the  germinal  principles  of  whose  character  God  had 
not  thought  of,  nor  planted  in  him. 

Thus  "  saith  the  Lord :  They  have  built  the  high  places 
of  Tophet,  which  is  in  the  valley  of  the  son  of  Hinnom,  to 
burn  their  sons  and  their  daughters  in  the  fire;  which  I  com- 
manded them  not,  neither  came  it  into  my  heart.''  (Jer. 
vii.  30,  31.)     He  never  thought  of  it. 

But,  upon  the  hypothesis,  or  fact,  that  the  principles,  ele- 
ments, and  unoriginated  beings,  (good  and  evil,)  exist,  there 
is  no  contradiction,  confusion,  or  absurdity,  that  necessarily 
follows.  For  as  "  God  is  of  purer  eyes  than  to  behold  ini- 
quity;" so  also  is  He  of  too  pure  a  heart  to  tliiuk  iniquity. 

Just  so  far  as  man  is  in  evil,  is  he  actually  out  of  God 
and  Christ.  "  He  that  sinneth,  hath  not  seen  Christ,  neither 
known  him."  "Then  will  He  say  unto  them.  Depart  from 
me,  ye  workers  of  iniquity  ;  I  never  knew  you." 

God  exists  only  in  his  own  elements.  Yet  He  could  create 
beings  with  a  capacity  for  receiving  evil  influences,  as  easily 
as  a  man  can  make  a  vessel  out  of  the  most  pure  material, 
capable  of  holding  the  most  noisome  and  poisonous  fluids. 


INSPIRATION.  59 

It  is  very  problematic;!  1  whether  a  being  thus  ''  made  up- 
right" and  "  very  good  "  in  all  his  faculties  and  capacities, 
who,  in  the  exercise  of  his  free  agency,  prostitutes  them  un- 
der and  to  the  influences  of  evil,  is  not  more  unhappy  than 
one  whose  very  being  is  only  evil ;  of  whom  a  figure  is  seen 
in  the  snake,  tiger,  hyena,  vulture,  ko..  tfec.  For  misery  is 
the  result  of  a  creature  getting  out  of  its  own — its  native — ■ 
element. 

SUMMARY. 

The  fourth  Era,  again,  and  the  Church  pertaining  to  it, 
like  all  the  preceding  ones,  had  its  origin  in  Divitie  Revela- 
tion, and  is  the  second  revelation  and  manifestation  of  Christ, 
in  i\\^  female  order,  as  i\\e  first  was  in  the  male  order. 

As  Jesus  was  anointed  and  filled  with  the  Christ  Spirit, 
so  was  Ann  Lee.  Neither  of  them,  however,  is  an  object  of 
icorship,  any  more  than  are  those  who  follow  them,  (who  are 
also  baptized  with  the  anointing  or  Christ  Spirit)  objects  of 
worship.  "  Know  ye  not  that,  except  Christ  be  in  you''  all, 
"ye  are  reprobates i'''     (See  2  Cor.  xiii.  5.) 

Thus,  in  each  succeeding  Dispensation,  the  Revelation  is 
more  directly  from  God:  that  is,  the  mediums,  or  messen- 
gers, thereof  sent  to  earth  are  of  a  higher  order.  But,  in  all 
cases,  it  is  a  man  or  woman  that  receives  the  revelation  from 
the  messenger. 

The  First  Era  commenced  in  Adam; — the  Second  in  Abra- 
ham ; — the  Third  in  Jesus  ; — the  Fourth  in  Ann  Lee. 

In  this  Fourth  Dispensation  is  established  the  final  Church 
and  kingdom  of  Christ,  which  possesses  the  "  Uiim  and 
Thummim  ;"  and  therefore  it  cannot  be  deceived  or  over- 
thrown by  evil  or  ignorant  spirits;  for  its  communicants 
are  familiar  with  spirits  and  spiritual  manifestations  in  all 
their  phases  and  forms. 

This  Church  has  its  laws,  statutes,  and  rules,  as  had  the 
Adamic,  Mosaic,  and  first  Christian. 

And  these  laws,  with  the  "  new  covenant"*  of  regeneration — 


60  TESTS   OF    DIVINE 

virgin  purity, — are  put  into  the  heart  of  every  individual,  and 
forrn  the  touch-stone  or  test  of  all  revelation. 

The  faithful  persons,  therefore,  who  compose  this  Church, 
are  the  "very  elect,"  who  cannot  be  deceived. 

Thus,  all  the  righteous  laws  of  the  Four  Dispensations, 
culminate  in  this  Church  of  the  Fourth  Era,  uniting  in  a  con- 
centration of  spiritual  light;  and  form  the  "  Urira  andThum- 
mira"  which  all  the  dark  spirits  in  existence,  on  earth  or  in 
the  spirit  world,  cannot  either  dim  or  becloud. 

The  practical  fruit  of  this  Church,  is  the  entire  banish- 
ment of  poverty  and  want,  and  sin  and  misery  ;  and  a  full 
supply  of  physical  and  spiritual  necessaries,  for  the  body 
and  soul  of  every  one  of  its  members. 

He  who  teaches  that  Christ  and  generation  can  coalesce, 
is  deceived,  or  is  a  deceiver. 

No  law  of  any  previous  Era  must  be  violated.  The  Mo- 
saic law  was  from  God ;  and  Christ  said.  "  Heaven  and  earth 
should  pass  away ;  but  not  in  any  wise  should  one  jot  or 
tittle  of  the  law  pass  therefrom,  until  it  be  all  fulfilled,"  or 
kept ;  (see  Matt.  v.  18;)  then  it  will  cease  and  jxiss  away  ;  for 
it  was  made  only  for  sinners,  or  transgressors.  x\nd,  there- 
fore, if  the  professed  Christian  sin,  he  must  pay  the  Mosaic 
penalty ;  as,  in  sinning,  he  breaks  or  transgresses  the  law  of 
Moses  ;  for  sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law."  (1  John,  iii. 
4.)     Every  spirit  that  denieth  this  h  false. 

The  lust  of  generation  is  the  one  great  evil  that  marred  all 
the  designs  and  works  of  God  in  the  first  three  Eras.  But 
it  is  utterly  destroyed  in  the  Fourth,  by  the  cutting  off  of  the 
work  of  generation  itself. 

Lust  caused  the  flood.  By  it  the  primitive  Church  fell. 
It  has  accused  and  condemned  the  "  two  witnesses,"  day 
and  night  before  God,  during  the  last  eighteen  centuries; 
and  has  caused  the  stars,  (priests  and  teachers)  of  the  old 
heavens  (Christendom)  to  fall  to  the  earth,  and  wallow  in  the 
filth  of  sexuality.  And  from  it  have  proceeded  all  "  wars  and 
fightings,"  Heathen  and  Christian. 


INSPIRATION.  61 

The  Gospel,  or  law  of  the  Fourth  Dispensation — will  be 
preached  to  all  people,  nations,  kindreds,  and  tongues,  on 
earth  and  in  the  spirit  world. 

Jesus  preached  it  to  the  antediluvians.  (See  1  Pet.  iii.18 — 
20.)  But  there  is  a  class  of  materialistic  infidel  spirits, — advo- 
cates of  a  vain  and  false  philosophy, — who  find  many  willing 
proselytes,  unto  whom  they  minister,  and  teach  that  there  are 
no  evil  spirits,  nor  any  evil ;  and  that  after  death  all  will  be 
happy  ;  that,  in  the  beginning,  there  was  nothing  but  God; 
and  that  there  will  be  nothing  but  God  in  the  end. 

But  it  is  hoped  that  these  Tests  will  prove  a  sufficient  guard 
to  every  soul,  who  will  abide  by  them,  against  the  machina- 
tions of  all  kinds  and  classes  of  spirits,  and  also  from  all  er- 
ror and  false  doctrine. 


62  tp:sts  of  divine 


SECTION    V. 


CHAPTER  I. 

AFFINITIVE  r.ELATION    OF  THE   DIVINE  WORK  IN  THE    FOUR  DIS- 
PENSATIONS. 

1.  All  the  works  of  God  are  intimately  connected,  by  va- 
rious degrees  of  affinitive  relation  ;  and  are  arranged  in  cir- 
cles, or  spheres  of  order  ;  the  larger  or  general  circles  being 
drawn  round  lesser  and  lesser  circles,  down  to  the  spheres  of 
individuals,  which  revolve  in  their  respective  circles,  in  the 
progressive  development  of  the  providential  and  divine  work 
of  God,  like  wheels  within  wheels  ;  and,  into  each  circle,  the 
Divine  and  ever-living  Spirit  is  diffused  with  power  and  light, 
to  move,  guide  and  direct  all  their  operations  according  to 
the  Divine  will.  For  the  Eternal  Spirit  has  his  throne  above, 
upon  this  order  of  his  workmanship  ;  from  whence,  by  his 
Divine  Power  and  Wisdom,  He  governs  and  directs  the 
whole,  progressively  to  fulfil  his  purposes. 

2.  And  each  individual  connected  with  any  of  these  or- 
ders of  circles,  has  his  peculiar  sphere  of  operation  ;  and  to 
each  is  given  an  eye  of  hght  to  discern  the  present  degree  of 
the  progressive  work  of  God,  in  which  he  is  called  to  labor. 

3.  This  affinitive  connection  and  progressive  movement  of 
the  Divine  order,  in  each  dispensation  of  the  providence  and 
grace  of  God  to  man,  was  shown  by  the  visions  of  the 
ancient  Prophet  Ezekiel,  (see  chaps,  i.  &  x.)  wherein  he  saw 
*'  four  living  creatures/'  or  iwivers,  joined  together,  which 
were  called  Cherubims;  and  over  and  upon  them  was  the 
"  appearance  of  the  likeness  of  a  throne,"  and  above  and 
upon  it  was  "  the  likeness  of  the  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel," 
from  whence  came  the  directinir  Voice. 


INSPIRATION.  63 

4.  And  their  figurative  **  appearance  was  like  burning 
coals  of  fire,  and  like  the  appearance  of  lamps;  and  it  went 
up  and  down  amongst  these  living  creatures."  These  Che- 
rubims  evidently  represented  the  Four  general  Dispensations, 
through  which  the  whole  work  of  God  has  been,  and  will 
be,  displayed  to  man  ;  and  here  they  were  shown  to  be  all 
joined  together  ;  for  each  rose  out  of  the  preceding  one,  un- 
til the  Fourth  and  last,  in  which  the  whole  will  be  completed, 
and  then  all  will  be  perfected  and  joined  in  one  union,  ac- 
cording to  the  directions  of  the  Almighty  Spirit :  for 
"  whithersoever  the  Spirit  was  to  go,  they  went,"  and  turn- 
ed not  as  they  went,  *'  they  went  every  one  straight  for- 
ward." This  shows  that  the  progress  of  the  orders  of  God's 
work  is  straight  forward  to  accomphsh  his  purposes ;  and 
turns  not  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left.  Each  cherub  had 
four  faces  of  the  same  appearance ;  thus  showing  that  they 
all  looked  to  the  connective  work  of  God  in  each  of  the  Four 
Dispensations,  and  were  proceeding  on  in  affinitive  relation. 

5.  Their  four  faces  were  the  same  as  were  seen  by  St. 
John  (see  Rev.  iv.  T)  on  the  four  living  creatures,  (impro- 
perly rendered  ''beasts")  that  were  "full  of  eyes,  before  and 
behind ;"  which  shows  that  these  represented  the  same 
orders  ;  and  also,  that  each  one  was  in  affinitive  relation  to 
the  other  three  ;  and  all  their  circles  were  joined  in  one  uni- 
versal order ;  for  they  all  moved  together.  And  by  each 
cherub  was  one  wheel ;  and  the  work  of  the  wheels  was  one 
likeness :  and  their  appearance  and  their  work  was,  as  it 
were,  "a  wheel  in  the  midst  of  a  wheel."  "  When  they  went, 
they  went  upon  their  four  sides ;  they  turned  not  as  they 
went :"  that  is,  they  moved  unitedly  alike,  and  turned  not  to 
the  right  nor  to  the  left ;  but  to  the  place  whither  the  head 
looked,  they  followed  it.  Thus  they  turned  not  from  their 
straight  course  after  the  living  creatures ;  "  for  the  spirit  of 
the  hving  creatures,"  or  powers,  **  was  in  tliem." 

6.  These  wheels  represented  the  body  of  people  who  were 
chosen  in  the  covenant  relation  of  God,  in  each  Dispensation 


(S^  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

of  his  work;  and  were  moved  upon  by  the  living  Spirit  of 
light  and  power,  according  to  the  order  of  that  day ;  and 
which,  by  the  operations  of  the  same  Spirit,  in  the  last  Dis- 
pensation, are  unitedly  rising  and  progressing  into  higher 
and  higher  degrees  of  perfection.  The  ivings  of  the  cheru- 
bims  signify,  that  they  are  destined  to  fly  above  the  attrac- 
tions of  the  earthly  sphere.  Therefore,  "  when  they 
lifted  up  their  wings  to  mount  up  from  the  tarth,  the  same 
wheels  also  turned  not  from  beside  them."  But,  "  when  they 
stood,  the  Avheels  stood  ;  and  when  they  were  lifted  up, 
these  were  lifted  up,"  showing  that  there  are  times  of  still- 
ness, and  times  of  rising  into  higher  degrees  in  the  Divine 
system  of  operations.     (See  Rev.  viii.  1.) 

Y.  This  order  of  wheels  moves  in  the  circle  of  the  wheels 
of  the  "Ancient  of  Days,"  which  were  to  roll  through  the 
earth  like  burning  flames ;  to  cut  down  all  earthly  thrones, 
and  to  consume  and  destroy  all  the  corrupt  institutions  and 
oppressive  powers  of  the  world.  (See  Dan.  vii.  9,  12.) 
These  wheels  are  rapidly  rolHng  on  by  the  light  and  power 
of  Divine  Revelation,  in  the  providential  and  spiritual  orders  ; 
and  are  progressively  effecting  this  work  throughout  the 
world. 

8.  But  it  is  evidently  the  work  of  this  present  Dispensation, 
or  "  days  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  trumpet"  (see  Rev.  x. 
7),  to  progressively  r'ne  higher  and  higher  from  the  earth  ; 
that  is,  from  all  the  propensities  and  ties  of  the  earthly  fallen 
nature.  These  "  wheels  and  their  whole  body,  and  their 
backs,  and  their  hands,  and  their  wings,  were  full  of  eyes 
round  about."  This  signifies  that  every  soul  that  is  joined 
to  the  Divine  order  of  God's  woik  revolves  in  a  connected 
circle  around  the  progressively-increasing  and  living  work  of 
each  successive  degree  and  day  of  the  Dispensation,  And 
all  are  directed  by  an  emanation,  in  degrees  of  order,  from 
the  throne  of  the  Almiyhty  Spirit. 

9.  And  all,  both  cherubims  and  wheels,  being  in  all  parts 
"full  of  eyes,"  show  that  all  souls  in  this  circle  of   wheels 


INSPIRATION.  65 

have  a  peculiar  sphere  adapted  to  their  order  and  genius 
to  revolve  in ;  and  that  Divine  light  from  the  living  Spirit 
is  dispensed  to  them  severall}^  sufficient  to  discern  the  pre- 
sent order  and  work  of  the  day  in  which  they  are  called  to 
unite. 

10.  In  this  manner,  everyone  has  Divine  revelation  in  his 
own  soul,  by  which  to  know  the  true  work  of  God.  But 
**  these  wheels  followed  to  the  place  whither  the  head 
looked."  This  signifies  that  all  souls  in  these  circles  must 
be  led  and  guided  by  the  revelation  of  primary  and  fixed 
foundation  j^rinciplf-s,  that  are  fully  known  and  clearly  under- 
stood by  every  individual  member  in  this  Divine  system, 
from  the  greatest  even  to  the  least ;  which  forms  the  basis 
of  the  circle  in  which  they  are  called  to  move  ;  and  which 
will  thus  serve  as  an  infallible  standard,  by  which  to  judge 
all  revelation,  and  to  "  try  the  spitits,  whether  they  be  of 
God." 

11.  This  ''knowledge  of  the  Lord"  constitutes  these  eyes 
in  the  body  of  Christ,  it  being  composed  of  such  spirit- 
ually intelligent  members.  And  thus,  as  "  the  light  of  the 
body  is  the  eye ;"  and  the  whole  body  being  *'  full  of  eyes," 
in  every  part,  it  is  full  of  Divine  light ;  and  therefore  cannot 
be  led  astray  by  any  inspiration  from  the  powers  of  darkness. 

12.  And,  although  every  succeeding  true  revelation  brings 
an  increasing  degree  of  purity  and  order  (for  "  of  the  in- 
crease of  Christ's  kingdom,  to  order  and  establish  it,  there 
shall  be  no  end,"  Is.  ix.  7) ;  yet,  all  such  revelations  confirmeth 
rudimental  principles  of  every  preceding  Divine  revelation  in 
all  former  Dispensations  ;  and  every  spirit  that  speaks  to  the 
contrary  is  false.  It  is  thus  that  "  the  testimony  of  Jesus  is 
the  spirit  of  prophecy"  or  of  inspired  Divine  revelation,  both 
in  the  general  and  governing  circle,  and  in  the  Divine  sys- 
tem ;  and  also  in  the  subordinate  circles,  which  by  affinitive 
relation,  enlighten  the  sphere  of  each  individual  being,  in 
whom  is  "  the  Spirit  of  the  living  creatures,"  or  powers. 

13.  The  "  burning  coals'*  signify  the  refining  work  that 


66  TESTS   OF  DIVINE   INSPIRATION. 

souls  must  pass  through,  to  become  living  members  of  this 
Divine  order.  And  the  "  lamias  of  fire  that  went  up  and 
down  among  the  living  creatures"  signify  the  central  hght  of 
revelation,  to  direct  all  the  circles  of  this  system  of  the  work 
of  God.  And  "  the  hands  of  a  man  which  appeared  under 
the  cherubims'  wings,  on  their  four  sides,"  signify  that  all 
these  operations  will  be  effected  through  the  medium  and 
agency  of  man,  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth. 

14.  Thus,  according  to  the  foregoing  principles,  all  things 
and  all  beings,  in  the  various  circles  of  the  Divine  order,  do, 
and  forever  will,  revolve  in  their  respective  spheres,  like 
wheels  ivithin  wheels  ;  all  being  directed  by  the  primary  re- 
velations from  the  spiritual  powers  above ;  and  governed  by 
the  Divine  Voice  from  the  Eternal  Throne,  which  is  above 
all,  and  which  rests  upon  the  Divine  order  of  the  Cherubims 
of  his  glory. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  PART  II. 


We  can  have  no  greater  evidence  that  any  principle,  or 
system  of  principles,  originates  in  spiritual  evil,  or  is  of 
human  origin,  than  the  fact  of  its  being  of  corruptive  and 
degenerative  tendency ;  as  also  of  its  being  unprogressive, 
inert,  and  fixed  in  its  character  ;  as  witness  the  dogmatical, 
antichristian  orders  and  churches,  which  prohibit  human 
progress,  by  shutting  up  the  doors  of  a  continuous  revelation 
of  God's  will  to  man  ;  and  thus  forbid  the  travel  of  the  soul 
into  a  more  perfect  state  ; — the  only  purpose  for  which  any 
Divine  revelation  was  ever  given. 

We  are  aware  that  the  prophecies  and  visions  recorded  in 
Scripture,  have  been  and  are,  by  different  expositors,  vari- 
ously interpreted,  according  to  the  degree  of  spiritual  light 
and  understanding,  and  state  of  the  interpreter.  And,  inas- 
much as  the  people  called  Shakers  differ,  in  all  these  partic- 
ulars, from  most  of  the  readers  of  this  work,  it  is  not  to  be 
expected  that  any  will,  at  first  and  in  all  respects,  see  eye  to 
eye  with  them. 

But  let  every  one,  unbiassed  by  educational  prepossessions, 
sectarian  prejudices,  or  a  dogmatic  love  of,  and  adherence 
to,  their  own  previously  acquired  and  preconceived  opinions, 
decide  any  point  of  difference  that  may  arise,  according  to 
hi(dbest  light,  in  view  of  the  evidence  herein  laid  before  him. 

It  is  quite  certain,  that  the  general  plan  and  order  of  pro- 
cedure in  the  Divine  economy,  in  relation  to  the  redemption 
of  the  human  race,  have  frequently  been  pointed  out  by  four 
fiiTurative  representations.      And   the  "  four   spirits"  of   the 


(58  TESTS    OF   DIVINB 

heavens,  spoken  of  by  Zachaiiali,  (vi.  5,)  undoubtedly  refer 
to  the  light  and  life  of  prophetic  revelation  emanating^  from 
Four  Dispensations ;  for,  although  the  Fourth  had  not  yet 
come,  yet  its  order,  power,  and  spirit,  was  the  theme  of  all 
the  prophets,  as  being  the  ultimate  and  finishing  work  of  God 
■with  the  human  family. 

The  Prophet  Ezekiel  saw,  in  vision,  these  Four  Eras,  by 
the  four  successive  risings  and  admeasurements  of  "  the  holy 
waters  which  issued  out  from  under  the  threshold  of  the 
sanctuary," — temple,  or  Church  of  the  Era. 

In  i\\Q  first  of  these  admeasurements  the  waters  came  up 
only  to  a  man's  ankles ;  in  the  second,  to  his  knees  ;  in  the 
third^  they  took  in  the  man  to  his  loins  ;  but,  in  the  fourth 
and  lasty  they  became  an  impassable  river,  which  carried 
whoever  entered  into  them  clear  above  the  earth. 

This  shows  the  progressive  increase  of  the  flowings  of  the 
waters  of  life  in  each  succeeding  Dispensation,  which  con- 
centrated and  were  completely  developed  in  the  fourth  and 
last ;  in  which,  every  thing  that  had  life  was  healed,  whither- 
soever the  waters  of  that  impassable  river  came  ;  betokening 
that  every  intellectual  and  inteUigent  being,  that  received 
the  life])ower  of  the  Church  of  the  fourth  Era,  would  be 
made  alive  in  the  true  order  of  God. 

For  "these  waters  go"  (from  the  Church)  "down  into 
the  desert ;"  that  is,  the  spiritually-barren  or  desert-like 
state  of  the  Churches;  "and  thence  into  the  sea"  (world)  ; 
"  and,  being  brought  forth  into  the  sea,  the  waters  thereof 
were  healed  :"  this  "  sccC  is  the  great  source  of  human  na- 
ture, whence  all  natural  beings  are  brought  forth,  full  of 
corruption,  infirmity,  and  spiritual  death ;  which  plainly 
shows  the  state  of  the  fountain  from  whence  they  tlow. 
(See  Rev.  xvii.  15.)  • 

Thus,  the  waters  proceeding  from  this  corrupt  sea,  are 
**  peoples,  nations,  kindreds,  and  tongues,"  which  carry  "  the 
whore- of  Babylon, ""  with  all  "her  abominations,"  that  is,  all 
the  civil  and  religious  or  ecclesiastical  systems  of  the  world. 


IXSriRATION.  69 

And  the  waters  of  this  "sea'  must  be  cleansed  and 
purified  by  these  waters  of  hfe,  before -they  can  ever  bring 
forth  hving  souls  that  are  prepared  for  the  Gospel  net, 
which  souls  are  the  "  fish"  that  should  be  in  great  multi- 
tudes in  those  "healed  waters."     (See  Ezek.  xlvii.  1  to  12.) 

The  same  general  plan,  or  order,  is  again  exhibited  in  the 
vision  of  the  "  four  horns  of  the  Gentiles,  which  scattered 
Judah  and  Israel,"  God's  figurative  covenant  people.  This 
also  shows  the  scattering  of  the  spiritual  Israel,  or  first  Chris- 
tian Church. 

Then  came  ''four  carpenters,"  (builders)  ''to  fray  and 
cast  out  the  horns  of  the  Gentiles,  which  lift  up  over  the 
land  of  Judah  to  scatter  it;"  (Zech.  i.  18  to  21)  ;  that  is,  to 
"  divide  the  Icmd  for  gain,"  which  the  Lord  gave  for  the  one 
common  inheritance  of  his  people,  to  be  by  them  equally 
occupied  and  improved  ;  (see  Num.  xxxiii.  54)  ;  and  there- 
by to  "  scatter"  every  man's  private  individual  inheritance, 
and  occupy  the  land ;  after  the  unequal  and  oppressive 
manner  of  the  nations  of  the  earth.   • 

Not  only  was  the  land  equally  divided  among  the  tribes 
and  families,  and  individuals  in  Israel,  but  there  were  also 
established  four  concrete,  consecutive,  ascending  orders  of 
sabbaths,  prefiguring  the  Four  Dispensations  ;  by  which  a 
progressive  curtailment  of  the  corrupt  and  selfish  principles 
of  fiillen  nature,  that  di>inherit  man  of  the  earth,  thereby 
producing  among  them  inequality,  poverty,  and  slavery, 
were  effected,  on  the  one  hand  ;  and,  on  the  other,  a  succes- 
sive and  increasing  development  of  the  eternal  principles  of 
right  and  truth,  ultimating  in  the  setting  up  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  upon  earth,  in  the  Fourth  aud  last  Dispensation ; 
in  which,  each  and  all  are  not  only  the  equal  objects  of 
God's  love  and  care,  but  are  also  the  objects  of  the  e^ial 
love  and  care  of  each  other. 

These  four  horns,  that  thus  scatter  Israel,  destroy  unity, 
and  caui^e  every  man  to  "  seek  his  own  gain  from  his  own 
quarter,"  are  the  leading  powers  of  the  generative  man; 
"  ^he  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye,  and  th«  pride  of 


70  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

life,"  and  the  selfish  ambition  of  the  world ;  which  induce 
men  to  contend  for,  and  strive  to  excel  in,  the  possession  of 
the  earth,  and  consequently  in  power  and  dominion  over  their 
fellow-men.  And  b}^  this  are  created  those  giants  in  wick- 
edness,— the  warriors  and  conquerors  of  the  world ;  for,  to 
rob  men  of  their  inalienable  right  to  the  earth,  and  enslave 
the  people,  is  the  leading  object  of  all  wars. 

Religious  ambition,  or  seeking  the  pre-eminence,  working 
in  union  with  the  three  other  "  horns  of  the  Gentiles,"  did 
also  overthrow  and  "  scatter  the  power  of  the  holy  people," 
destroy  the  united  inheritance  of  the  primitive  Church,  and 
tread  down  the  holy  "  city,"  and  its  sacred  order  of  love  and 
union.     (See  Rev.  xi.  2  ;  and  Dan.  xii.  1.) 

Thus  the  gentile  system  of  generation  and  selfish  individ- 
ual possessions,  or  "  dividing  the  land  for  gain,"  is,  to  this 
day,  the  order,  in  Babylon,  of  all  the  nations  professing  the 
Christian  name,  and  of  all  their  institutions. 

These  *'  horns  of  the  gentiles,"  or  earthly  powers  of  the 
corrupt  world, — religioii^  and  irreligious, — can  only  be  over- 
thrown and  cast  out  by  these  "  four  carpenters,"  or  builders, 
that  have  come  forth  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  the  Four 
Dispensations,  who  are  united  and  their  work  perfected  in 
the  Fourth  and  last. 

By  this  powder,  these  builders  wall  "cast  out  those  horns," 
or  worldly  powers  of  the  Gentiles.  And,  as  fast  as  this  is 
effected,  they  will  also  proceed  to  build  the  "  city  of  the 
Most  High,"  by  the  principle  of  love,  purity,  meekness,  and 
unity  ;  for  they  are  the  four  rudimental  foundation  pillars  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  which  can  alone  secure  to  each  indi- 
vidual his  just  and  equal  inalienable  rights,  and  at  the  same 
time  effect  a  united  interest  in  all  things,  both  temporal  and 
spiritual. 

This  forms  the  true  Christian  order ;  and  is  a  criterion  and 
test  which  makes  the  labor  of  proving  the  quality  of  (and 
the  source  from  whence  has  proceeded)  every  revelation 
comparatively  liglit  and  easy. 

Other  tfists  and  evidences,  by  whi(;h  to  discern  and  detect 


INSPIRATION.  71 

true  or  false  spirits,  and  true  or  false  revelation,  consisting 
of  doctrines  that  result  from  the  principles  made  known  to 
man  by  revelation,  in  each  of  the  Four  Eras  and  their 
Churches,  will  be  subjoined. 

These  Tests,  we  are  fain  to  believe,  will,  if  once  under- 
stood and  digested,  be  a  talisman,  or  charm,  against  the 
spells  of  all  witches,  wizards,  familiar  spirits,  necromancers, 
soothsayers,  dreamers,  and  "  false  prophets  and  false  Christs;" 
and  will  thus  prove  a  perfect  guard  and  protection,  against 
the  influences  and  machinations  of  all  seducinof,  deceiving:, 
and  evil  spirits,  and  their  spurious  revelations  and  lying 
wonders,  whether  they  be  in  the  visible  or  invisible  world ; 
and  whatever  name  or  character  such  spirits  may  assume,  for^ 
the  purpose  of  imposing  upon  the  credulity  of  the  simple 
and  honest,  or  of  the  ignorant  and  unwary,  even  though  it 
be  the  name  and  character  of  an  "  angel  of  hght." 


P  A  KT    II. 


THE  FOLLOWING  CODE  OF  DOCTRINES,  TOGETHER,  MAY 
SERVE  AS  ADDITIONAL  AND  SPECIFIC 


RULES  FOB  TESTING  DIVINE  REVELATION. 


FAITH. 

From  the  foregoing  Part,  it  will  be  seen,  tliat  every  dis- 
pensation has  its  foundation  principles.  The  Patriarchal 
had  its  moral  laio  of  nature,  for  the  regulation  of  man  in  the 
animal  work  of  propagating  his  race.  The  Mosaic  had  its 
laws,  statutes,  and  judgments,  with  the  twofold  design  of 
reproof  and  instruction,  and  its  hieroglyphical  prophesyings 
of  the  future.  The  first  Christian  Era  was  also  possessed 
of  certain  definite  and  eternal  principles,  which  are  contained 
in  the  life  and  doctrines  of  the  Messiah^  who  was  the  true 
embodiment  of  that  dispensation ;  and  whose  doctrines  formed 
the  foundation  of  the  first  Gospel  temple.  "  And  other 
foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  which  is  laid."  (1  Cor. 
iii.  11.)  **  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone," 
(Eph.  ii.  20.) 

For  "■  tints  saith  the  Lord  God,  Behold  I  lay  in  Zion,  for 
a  foundation,  a  stone,  a  tried  stone,  a  precious  corner- 
stone, a  sure  foundation ;  he  that  helieveth  shall  not  be 
confounded,"  (Is.  xxviii.  16;  and  1  Pet.  ii.  6,)  by  any 
spirit,  whether  upon  earth  or  in  the  spirit  world.  The  word 
of  Christ  to  his  disciples  was,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.     He  that  helieveth  and 


TESTS   OF   DIVINE   INSPIRATION.  78 

is  baptized  shall  be  saved ;  but  he  that  hcUeveth  not  shall  be 
damned."     (Mark  xvi.  15,  16.) 

Here  arises  the  question,  What  is  that  gospel?  The  an- 
swer is,  it  is  composed  (as  above  stated)  of  certoin  specific 
doctrines  and  laws,  which  doctiines  and  laws  are  deduced 
from  the  ivords  and  works,  or  life  of  Jesus  Christ ;  nor  car 
any  doctrine  be  n^ceived  as  Christian,  that  is  not  attested  b) 
these  two  witnesses. 

SUMMARY. 

Evwy  principle,  or  doctrine,  that  can  positively  be  demon- 
strated as  true,  becomes  a  proper  test  of  spirits  and  of  their 
real  character. 

All  truth  will  agree  and  harmonize ;  and  any  spirit  that 
attempts  to  pervert  or  gainsay  what  is  known  to  be  positively 
true,  cannot  itself  be  true. 

As  has  already  been  remarked, /a?7/i  in  Christ  is  one  good 
and  unerring  test  of  spirits. 


BAPTISM. 

What  is  Christ's  baptism,  without  which  no  soul  can  be 
saved  by  his  Gospel  ?  Tlie  baptism  of  Moses  was  with  2vater. 
After  every  act  of  defilement,  tlie  Israelites  were  to  bathe 
and  wash  their  bodies  clean  with  water,  as  a  type  of  the 
washings  of  the  regeneration  by  the  waters  of  life,  wiih  which 
their  souls  should  be  baptized  under  the  Gospel  Dispensation, 
(see  Lev.  xv.  16  and  18);  and  by  which  they  should  be  puri- 
fied and  cleansed  from  all  unrighteousness. 

John  the  Baptist  never  embraced  Christianity,  nor  entered 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  For  Jesus  said,  "  He  that  is  least  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  is  greater  than   he,"  (Matt.  xi.  2.) 


74  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

John,  who  was  still  under  the  law ;  yet,  many  of  his  disciples 
left  him  and  followed  Jesus  :  and  John  himself  testified,  "  I 
indeed  baptize  you  with  water  unto  repentance :  but  he  that 
Cometh  after  me,  whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  bear,  shall 
baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire,"  (Matt.  iii. 
11.)  "  But  Jesus  himself  baptized  not"  with  water  (John,  iv. 
2) ;  although  in  some  instances  "his  disciples"  did;  as  also 
they  occasionally  circumcised,  and  practised  other  Jewish 
ceremonies.  (See  Acts,  xv.  1,  3,andxxi.  23 — 26.)  Jesus  him- 
self was  baptized  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  (see  Matt.  iii.  16.) 

It  therefore  remains  true,  that  none  can  be  saved,  unless  they 
become  baptized  with  the  fire  of  Christ's  Spirit.  For  "  who 
may  abide  the  day  of  his  coming  ?  and  who  shall  stand  when 
he  appeareth  ?  for  he  is  like  a  refiner's  fire,  and  like  fullers' 
soap:  and  he  shall  sit  as  a  refiner  and  purifier  of  silver;  and  he 
shall  purify  the  sons  of  Levi,  and  purge  them  as  gold  and  sil- 
ver, that  they  may  offer  unto  the  Lord  an  offering  in  righteous- 
ness. (Mai.  iii.  2,  3.)  "  In  those  days,  and  in  that  time,  saith 
the  Lord,  the  iniquity  of  Israel  shall  be  sought  for,  and  there 
shall  be  none ;  and  the  sins  of  Judah,  and  they  shall  not  be 
found  ;  for  I  will  pardon  them  whom  I  reserve."  (Jer.  1.  20.) 
"Thy  people  shall  be  all  righteous."  (Is.  Ix.  21.)  "And  it 
shall  come  to  pass,  that  he  that  is  left  in  Zion  and  he  that  re- 
maineth  in  Jerusalem,  shall  be  called  holy ;  even  every  one 
that  is  written  among  the  lining  in  Jerusalem."    (Is.  iv.  3.) 

SUMMARY. 

No  enlightened  and  f/ood  sjnrit  will  controvert  the  doctrine 
of  S2nritual  baptism  being  essential  to  salvation  from  sin,  and 
from  that  nature  that  produces  sin. 


INSPIRATION.  75 


SIN. 

Every  thing  contrary  to  the  doctrines  or  Ufe  of  Jesus 
Christ,  always  was,  is,  and  always  will  be  sin  abstractedly, 
whether  committed  in  ignorance  or  knowledge. 

By  the  law  of  Moses,  w^as  given  a  definition  and  the  know- 
ledge of  sin;  therefore  "sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law" 
of  Moses;  for  tlie  law  is  righteous,  holy,  and  good,  (see 
Kora.  vii.  12.) 

By  the  law  of  Christ,  as  contained  in  his  commandments, 
is  given  the  knowledge  of  the  law  of  righteousness.  The 
first  of  w^hich  is,  "Be  ye  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  which 
is  in  heaven  is  perfect."  (Matt.  v.  48.)  He,  Jesus  Christ, 
was  perfect.  He  was  the  Son  of  God  (Matt.  iii.  17 ;  and  xvii. 
5.)  "And  to  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  also  gave  he 
power  to  becotne  the  sons  of  God;"  (John,  i.  12) ;  and  "every 
one  that  is  perfect  shall  be  as  his  master."  (Luke,  vi.  40.) 
So  "  that  both  he  that  sanctifieth,  and  they  who  are  sancti- 
fied are  all  of  one ;  and  he  is  not  ashamed  to  call  them  bre- 
thren." (Heb.  ii.  11.)  By  this  law,  every  follower  of  Christ 
must  "walk  as  he  walked,"  (1  John,  ii.  6),  and  live  as  he  lived. 
He  is  the  Eule  by  which  their  character  must  be  squared. 

SUMMARY. 

Any  ministration  from  the  spirit  world,  that  does  not  re- 
cognize the  existence  of  evil— wrong — sin,  must  itself  be 
from  a  dark  and  sinful  spirit. 


SALVATION. 

Therefore,  what  being  saved  by  tlie  bapt'sm  of  Christ  sig- 
nifies, may  be  learnt  from  the  very  name  of  Jesus.     "Thou 


76  TESTS  OF   DIVINE 

slialt  call  his  name  Jesus,  because  he  shall  save  his  people 
from  their  sins-,''  (Matt.  i.  21);  "  Jesus, ^^  therefore,  means  Sa- 
viour. Thus  showing  that  being  saved  has  not  a  special  re- 
ference to  a  future  world  or  state  ;  but  to  the  2^^'^sent  actual 
condition  of  those  who,  while  on  earth,  believed  and  are  bap- 
tized. So  that  none  are  his  people  who  are  living  in  their 
sins.  Thus  salvation  from  sin  is  the  first  Christian  doctrine. 
"  For  this  very  purpose  was  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  mani- 
fested, that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil,"  "  for 
the  devil  sinneth  from  the  beginning."     (1  John,  iii.  8.) 

SUMMARY. 

Every  intelligence  from  the  realms  of  light  and  purity 
will  surely  teach  men  the  necessity  and  possibiUty  of  salva- 
tion from  sin. 


LOVE   OF   GOD   TO   MAN. 

The  love  of  God  to  man  is  proved  from  the  fact  of  crea- 
tion. How  can  God  but  love  the  work  of  his  own  hands  ? 
And,  notwithstanding  they  rebelled  against  him  by  the  fall, 
the  love  of  God  is  proved  by  all  the  dispensations  of  his  grace 
to  man.  It  was  this  love  that  raised  up  prophets  in  every 
age,  to  instruct,  reprove,  warn,  and  save  from  present  afflic- 
tion, and  to  comfort  with  the  hope  of  future  good,  the  poor 
afflicted  children  of  men.  And,  finally,  "  God  so  loved  the 
world"  of  mankind,  "that  he  sent  his  only  begotten  Son, 
that  the  2i'hole  human  race  mi^ht  throuo-h  him  be  saved." 

o  o 

(John,  iii.  16,  17  ;  and  1  John,  iv.  9.)  For  "God  hath  no 
pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked ;  but  rather  that  they 
should  turn  from  the  error  of  their  ways,  and  live."  (See 
Ezekiel,  xviii.  23.) 


INSPIRATION.  77 


SUMMARY. 


All  true  and  good  spirits  are  witnesses,  in  their  commu- 
nications, at  all  times,  of  the  love  that  God  bears  towards 
the  human  race,  which  causes  him  to  provide  the  fullest 
means  for  their  final  and  perfect  happiness. 


LOVE   OF   GOD   IN    MAN. 

Tins  is  the  first  principle  of  goodness  in  man,  from  which 
every  virtue  and  all  truth  and  righteousness  proceed  and 
grow,  as  from  their  proper  root.  Hence  the  first  command- 
ment from  God  to  man  is,  *'  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy 
God  with  all  thy  heart,  thy  mind,  thy  soul  and  thy  strength. 
(Deut.  ,i.  5  ;  and  Mark,  xii.  30.)  And,  again,  '' Thou  shalt 
have  no  other  gods  (idols)  before  me."  Nothing  upon 
which  man's  affections  can  be  placed,  should  be  otherwise 
than  secondary  to  the  love  of  God,  in  the  human  soul :  or 
that  they  would  not  sacrifice  to  do  the  will  of  God — *'  Love 
is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law."     (Rom.  xiii.  10.) 

To  the  wicked  Jews,  Jesus  said,  "  I  know  you  that  ye 
have  not  the  Jove  of  God  in  you."  (Mark,  v.  42.)  In  Jesus 
was  the  love  of  God  imfected,  for  the  first  time  in  any  hu- 
man being.  "  This  is  the  love  of  God,  that  ye  keep  his  com- 
mandments." (1  John,  V.  3.)  "  I  came  not  to  do  mine  own 
will ;  but  the  Avill  of  Him  that  sent  me."  (John,  vi.  38.) 
Again,  Jesus  affirmed,  '  Theiefore  doth  my  Father  love  me, 
because  I  do  always  those  things  that  please  Him."  (John, 
viii.  29.)  And  he  continued  to  jyrove  his  love  to  God  by  his 
''obedience  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross."  (Phil, 
ii.  8.)  And  greater  love  to  God  cannot  bt%  than  that  a  being 
lav  down  his  life  in  obedience  to  Him. 


78  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 


SUMMARY. 


It  is  plain,  then,  that  God  loves  his  creature  man,  and 
seeks,  through  the  influence  of  many  means,  to  do  him  good, 
by  inducing  man  himself  to  become  good.  And  therefore 
this  is  one  test  of  revelation,  as  to  whether  it  be  of  evil  or 
Divine  origin. 


LOVE    OF   MAN    TO   MAN. 

"Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  (Mark,  xii. 
31.)  "By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples, 
if  ye  have  love  one  for  another."  (John,  xiii.  35.)  "  If  a 
man  love  not  his  brother  w^hom  he  hath  seen,  how  can  he 
love  God  whom  he  hath  not  seen?"  (1  John,  iv.  20.) 
Again,  "Let  us  not  love  in  word,  but  in  deed."  (1  John, 
iii.  18.)  Now,  how  can  any  soul  consistently  profess  to  have 
the  love  of  God,  and  to  love  his  neighbor  as  himself,  when 
he  is  not  willing  to  give  him  an  equal  inheritance  with  him- 
self in  even  those  things  that  perish  with  the  using — the  tem- 
porary things   of  earth  ? 

Therefore,  whenever  men  see  a  body  of  people,  compris- 
ing the  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  bond  and  free, 
white  or  colored,  male  and  female,  of  all  classes  and 
nations,  who  are  all  enjoying  one  united  interest  in  things 
spiritual  and  temporal,  as  brethren  and  sisters  in  Christ; 
and  who  'have  proved  themselves  in  these  principles  for 
a  goodly  period  of  time,  they  may  know  that  it  is  the 
true  Church,  or  body  of  Christ, — the  Zion  of  God  to  which 
"all  peoples'"  may  freely  "flow,"  as  to  an  ark  of  safety,  a 
fountain  of  love,  and  work  of  salvation. 

This  order  of  the  kingdom  of  God  upon  earth,  is  inimit- 
able by  all  the  wisdom  and  powers  of  natural  man  ;  as  was 


INSPIRATION.  79 

shown  to  the  prophet  in  his  visions  of  God,  of  the  spiritual 
building  of  the  "  latter  day,'"  when  he  was  commanded  to 
go  into  the  field,  where  no  foundation  of  any  building  was, 
and  it  was  said  unto  him,  "  In  the  place  where  the  Highest 
beginneth  to  show  his  city,  there  can  no  man's  building  be 
able  to  stand."     (2  Esdras,  x.  53,  54.) 

The  time  when  the  Highest  began  to  show  his  spiritual 
City,  was,  at  the  day  of  Pentecost,  by  the  operative  influence 
and  teacliings  of  his  Spirit ;  w^hicli  resulted  in  a  perfect  one- 
ness of  feeling  internally^  and  a  community  of  all  their  earth- 
ly goods  externally.  This  was  effected  not  as  an  ultimatum 
to  which  they  had  deliberately  set  out  to  attain ;  but  it  was 
unexpected  and  unlookcd  for,  though  a  necessary  conse- 
quence of  their  own  individual  spiritual  state  and  condition. 

It  was  the  labor  of  Jesus  to  root  up  and  destroy,  in  his 
disciples,  all  the  principles  of  sin ;  and,  in  pursuance  of  this 
object,  he  thus  attacked  their  selfishness  and  distrust  of 
God:  "Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon  earth, 
where  moth  and  rust  do  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  break 
through  and  steal."  (Matt.  vi.  19.)  And  again,  "  There- 
fore I  say  unto  you,  take  no  thought  for  your  life,  what  ye 
shall  eat,  or  what  ye  shall  drink;  nor  yet  for  your  body, 
what  ye  shall  put  on.  Is  not  the  life  more  than  meat,  and 
the  body  than  raiment  ?  Behold  the  fowls  of  the  air ;  for 
they  sow  not,  neither  do  they  reap,  nor  gather  into  barns ; 
yet  your  Heavenly  Father  feedeth  them.  Are  ye  not  much 
better  than  they  ?  Which  of  you  by  taking  thought  can  add 
one  cubit  unto  his  stature  ?  And  why  take  ye  thought  for 
raiment  ?  Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they  grow ; 
they  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin ;  and  yet  I  say  unto  you, 
that  even  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed  like  one 
of  these.  Wherefore,  if  God  so  clothe  the  grass  of  the  field, 
which  to-day  is,  and  to-morrow  is  cast  into  the  oven,  shall 
he  not  much  more  clothe  you,  0  ye  of  little  faith  ?  There- 
fore, take  no  thought,  saying.  What  shall  we  eat  ?  or.  What 
shall  we  drink?  or,  Wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed  ?  (for 


80  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

after  all  these  things  do  the  Gentiles  seek :)  for  your  heavenly- 
Father  knoweth  that  ye  have  need  of  all  these  things.  But 
seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  his  righteousness  ;  and 
all  these  things  shall  beaddedunto  you."  (Matt.  vi.  25-33.) 

Thus  did  Jesus  strive  to  detach  their  minds  entirely  from 
this  world,  to  cut  them  off  from  the  cares  of  supplying  even 
the  necessaries  of  life ;  thereby  leaving  them  to  depend  and 
trust  entirely  upon  Divine  Providence  for  the  supply  of  all 
their  bodily  wants ;  even  as  David  prayed,  "  From  my 
necessities,  0  Lord,  deliver  me."  "  For  after  all  these  things 
do  the  Gentiles  seek."  And,  when  he  sent  them  out  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  **  he  commanded  them  that  they  should 
take  nothing  for  their  journey,  save  a  staff  only;  no  scrip,  no 
bread,  no  money  in  their  purse :  but  be  shod  with  sandals  ; 
and  not  put  on  two  coats."     (Mark,  vi.  8,  9.) 

It  was  thus,  thit  he  would  have  them  practically  **  seek 
first  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  its  righteousness,"  by  ac- 
tually leaving  the  temporal  entirely  out  of  the  question  for 
the  present,  and  as  a  preparation  for  that  which  was  to  follow. 
For  Jesus  designed,  in  and  through  them,  to  create  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth  ;  and  by  creating  the  "  new  heavens'* 
the  sp'ritual,  or  soul,  first;  that  would  bring  forth  the  "  new 
earth,"  or  its  bodi/  in  temporal  things.  And  in  this  way  God 
would  indeed  "  add  unto  them  all  those  things,"  that  he 
knew  they  would  have  need  of.  "  Their  strength  was  to  sit 
still,"  (Is.  XXX.  17)  and  let  God  work  by  his  Spirit  to  will 
and  to  do  according  to  his  own  wisdom. 

It  is  therefore  evident,  that  a  community  was  not  only 
not  anticipated,  and  unexpected,  but  also.unthought  of;  and 
of  course  undesigned  by  the  Apostles  ;  but  they,  after  having 
been  together  in  one  place  in  deep  tribulation  of  soul  and 
fervent  prayers  to  God,  were  baptized  with  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  such  a  degree  as  wrought  them  up  to,  and  induced  in 
them,  the  highest  state  of  spirituahty  of  which  they  were 
susceptible.  This  caused  them  to  feel  the  strongest  convic- 
tion, and  deepest  abhorrence  of  sin,  and  of  the  nature  of  sin, 


INSPIRATION.  81 

by  opening  to  their  view  their  own  actual  state  of  soul,  as 
contrasted  with  the  infinite  purity  and  perfection  of  the  Di- 
vine Spirit  and  presence,  with  which  they  w^ere  thus  tempo- 
rarily baptized  for  that  very  purpose.  Under  this  influence 
many  began  to  cry  out  in  very  agony  of  soul,  "  Men  and 
brethren,  what  shall  we  do"  to  be  saved  ?     (Acts,  ii,  37.) 

Then  it  was,  and  not  before,  that  God  could  "  begin  to 
shew  his  City,"  for  He  had  now  suitable  materials  with 
which  to  commence  to  build.  He  could  now  work  to  the 
establishing  of  that  order  in  temporal  things  by  which  to 
supply  the  physical  wants  of  his  people  ;  which  he  had  de- 
signed from  the  beginning. 

For  the  people  received  that  conviction  for  sin  that  led 
them  to  "  shew  their  deeds"  to  the  Apostles.  In  other 
words,  they  confessed  and  forsook  their  sins  ;  and,  as  a  con- 
sequence thereof,  became  so  "  kindly  afFectioned  one  towards 
another,"  and  experienced  for  each  other  such  a  depth  of 
brotherly  love,  tluit  it  was  soon  found  that  the  highest  de- 
light and  happiness  of  every  one  was  best  promoted  by  ad- 
ministering to  the  comfort  and  consolation  of  every  other 
member  of  the  body  of  Christ  in  all  things — temporal  as 
well  as  spiritual. 

It  was  in  this  manner  that  the  love  of  God  and  of  man 
burnt  up  and  destroyed  the  love  of  sin  and  self;  and  com- 
munity was  the  necessary  result.  So  that  "  all  these  things" 
were  added  to  the  "  one  thing  needful,"  which  they  had 
sought  and  found.  Here,  then,  was  the  place  where  the 
LordjGod  bc[/an  to  "  shew  the  city"  which  he  would  build 
in  Christ's  Second  Appearing,  as  a  permanent  city  of  peace, 
love,  and  plenty.  And,  although  this  order  was  soon  lost  in 
the  fall  and  final  overthrow  of  the  primitive  Church  ;  yet 
man,  seeing  the  temporal  advantages  to  be  derived  from  such 
a  system,  has  never  ceased  the  attempt  in  any  age  to  build 
upon  the  foundation  then  laid  by  the  Spirit.  But  no  such 
*'  building"  of  m.m's  has  ever  yet  bci-n  "  able  to  stand." 

In  a  thousand  ways  and  forms,  this   principle  of  unity  of 


82  TESTS   OF  DIVINE 

purpose  and  effort  has  been  adopted  and  applied  amongcst 
men  to  nearly  all  the  common  pursuits  of  life,  from  a  Cotton- 
factory  to  a  Fourier's  association,  or  an  Owen's  community* 
In  all  these,  hoAvever,  the  object  aimed  at  has  been  the  anti- 
podes of  that  sought  by  the  disciples  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost. It  has  been  either  naked  and  direct  self-aggrandize- 
ment, as  in  companies  and  corporations ;  or  else  to  form  a 
community  as  an  ohject,  merely  for  the  supply  of  physical 
wants  and  comforts  ;  exclusively  seeking  what  and  how  they 
should  eat  and  drink  and  be  clothed,  and  how  they  should 
"  lay  up  treasures  upon  earth"  to  the  greatest  amount  and 
extent.  And  tliis  as  the  sole  and  main  end  of  their  beinfr 
either  by  putting  the  kingdom  and  its  righteousness  last,  or 
omitting  it  altogether.  Thereby  exactly  reversing  the  counsel 
of  Jesus  to  his  followers. 

It  may  be  objected,  that  the  condition  of  Christ's  follow- 
ers when  having  *'  all  things  common,"  where  every  want 
was  easily  and  quickly  supplied,;  was  widely  diflferent  from 
that  state  set  forth  in  the  scriptures  above  quoted  of  "  Take 
no  thought,"  &c.  This  is  granted  :  so  was  the  state  of 
Israel,  when  compelled  by  outward  circumstances  to  depend 
from  day  to  day  wholly  upon  God  for  their  daily  bread 
while  on  their  way  to  the  promised  land,  different  from  what 
it  was  when  they  reached  that  **  glory  of  all  lands,  flowing 
with  milk  and  honey,"  and  fertile  beyond  any  thing  now 
known  upon  earth. 

Yet,  it  was  the  one  state  that  prepared  them  for  the  other. 
They  learned  in  the  wilderness,  dependence,  faith,  obedience; 
all  of  which  they  needed,  to  enable  them  to  make  a  right  use 
of  the  good  things  that  they  were  afterwards  entrusted- with 
in  the  promised  land.  And  thus,  when  Christ  led  his  disci- 
ples about,  or  sent  them  off  on  a  journey  without  any  visible 
means  of  support,  they  were  often  fed  in  a  miraculous  man- 
ner ;  but  even  then  he  promised  a  different  order  "  noiv  in 
this  lifBy^  in  the  future,  where,  as  Israel  did  in*  Canaan,  they 
must  live  by  the  labor  of  their  "  own  hands." 


INSPIRATION.  83 

Tlie  true  Spiritualist  (Christian),  in  seeking  God  and  sal- 
vation, finds  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  be  where  love  pro- 
duces community ; — while  the  natural  man,  attracted  by  his 
earthly  selfish  instincts,  seeks  to  build  upon  God's  founda- 
tion that  which  is  not  "  able  to  stand."  It  is  as  those  who 
followed  Christ  for  the  loaves  and  fishes,  which  were  the 
results  of  his  miracles.  Whereas,  others  followed  hira 
through  love,  and  to  witness  his  miracles,  who  therefore 
rightfully  and  justly  partook  of  the  fruits  thereof;  as  for 
theni  it  was  that  the  miracles  were  wrought. 

SUMMARY. 

By  this  "  we  know  that  we  have  passed  from  death  unto 
life,  because  we  love  the  brethren." 

The  absence  of  true  love  amongst  men  has  produced  the 
present  evil  condition  of  human  society,  in  all  its  relations,  in- 
ternal and  external.  By  love,  therefore,  the  inhabitants  of 
the  new  heavens  and  earth  were  to  be  pre-eminently  dis- 
tinguished. 

If  a  man  really  do  love  his  neighbor  as  himself,  it  vf'iW  first 
(as  the  outward  and  inferior)  be  visible  to  **  all  men,"  by  their 
equal  participation  between  them  of  all  earthly  goods  and 
substances  ;  yet  this  is  but  the  fruit  and  evidence  of  their 
equal  participation  in  spiritual  treasures  pertaining  to  salva- 
tion. 

If  communion  of  earthly  goods  be  sought  as  an  end,  it  is 
of  man  ;  but,  if  it  follow  as  a  consequence  of  an  inward  prin- 
ciple— love, — it  is  of  God. 

A  baptism  of  tlie  Holy  Spirit  effected  it  in  a  short  time, 
within  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  Era,  by  withdrawing 
man's  affections  from  things  below,  and  placing  them  on 
things  above. 

Jesus  taught  men  to  "  take  no  thought"  as  to  what  they 
should  eat,  drink,  or  wear,  as  a  first  object,  but  to  **  seek^^rs^ 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  its  righteousness ;"  and  promised 
that  inferior,  necessary  things,  "  should  be  added.'* 


84  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

A  strong  desire  for  salvation /rom  sin,  is  the  best  prepara- 
tion that  a  soul  can  have  for  community  of  interest  in  earthly 
things. 

Sin  and.  self  produce  private  property. 

Innocence  and  self-denial  produce  community/  of  property. 

The  first  Christian  Church  set  before  men  an  example  of 
love — a  oneness  of  interest  in  all  things.  And,  although  the 
order  -was  lost  with  the  fall  of  the  Church ;  yet  men 
have  never  ceased  to  admire  and  try  to  imitate  it,  for  the 
sake  of  temporal  advantage — the  loaves  and  fishes. 

In  all  ages,  and  in  a  thousand  ways  and  forms,  the  principle 
has  been  adopted  and  applied  among  men ;  but  especially  in 
our  own  day,  and  by  our  own  generation.  Yet  the  object 
aimed  at  has  invariably  been  diametrically  opposite  to  that  o/ 
the  men  of  Galilee.  They  have  sought  first  what  they  should 
eat  and  drink,  and  how  they  should  be  clothed. 

The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  where  love  produces  commmiiiy  ; 
but,  when  man,  from  a  selfish  motive,  seeks  to  build  upon 
the  foundation  of  "  all  things  common,"  his  building  is  a 
*' man's  building,  and  it  is  not  able  to  stand." 

Love  to  man  is  therefore  a  sure  and  certain  criterion  of  all 
Divine  Revelation.  Any  thing  contrary  to,  or  short  of,  this 
test — love  to  man, — emanating  from  the  spirit  world,  is 
proof  that  it  comes  from  an  order  of  spirits  that  is  not  joined 
to  the  Church  of  Christ  in  that  world,  and  who,  therefore,  are 
not  proper  ministers  to  "  the  heirs  of  salvation,"  who  belong 
to  the  Church  of  Christ  upon  earth. 


FORSAKING   ALL. 

•*  It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle, 
than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God,"  in 
which  they  have  "  all  thinr/s  in  common,  and  no  one  saith  of 


INSPIRATION.  85 

ought  he  possesses,  It  is"  mine.  (Matt.  xix.  24,  and  see  Acts, 
ii.  44.)  "How  hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God!"  (Mark,  x.  23.)  "Except  a  man 
forsake  all  that  he  hath,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple."  (Luke, 
xiv.  33.)  Of  course,  then,  he  cannot  enter  the  company  of 
the  saints,  among  whom  each  one  seeks  **  another's"  wealth, 
2Lnd.  not  his  own ;  (1  Cor.  x,  24;)  where  the  all  of  all  is 
consecrated  to  God  and  each  other,  there  can  be  no  "  rich 
man." 

SUMMARY. 

This  radical  doctrine  estabhshes  beyond  dispute,  that  pri- 
vate selfish  property,  to  any  amount,  is  incompatible  with 
Christianity,  and  is  also  a  sure  test  of  the  quality,  standing, 
and  truthfulness  of  all  spirits,  and  of  their  communications. 


VIRGIN    PURITY. 

Virgin  purity  arises  from  the  pure  nature  of  Christy  and  is 
the  foundation  principle  of  the  Gospel  of  salvation ;  the 
work  of  regeneration  being  the  opposite  of  the  principle  of 
generation,  which  is  the  foundation  principle  of  the  world,  or 
of  man  in  nature. 

As  private  or  individual  property  forms  the  basis  of,  and 
is  essential  to,  the  marriage  or  generative  relation,  and  its 
consequences  ;  so  is  virgin  purity  the  basis  of,  and  essential 
to,  a  community  of  property  ;  without  which  it  cannot  be 
supported. 

Generation  being  the  life  of  the  inferior  order — the  world  »* 
man  cannot,  any  faster  than  he  dies  to  it,  rise  into  the  superior 
or  real  spiritual  life.  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart ;  for 
they  shall  see  God,"  (Matt.  v.  8,)  our  Saviour  said;  and  he 
also  declared,  that,  "  he   that  looketh  upon  a  woman  to  lust 


86  TESTS  bF   DIVINE 

after  her,  hath  committed  adultery  with  her  ah*eady  in  his 
heart,"  (ib.  v.  28,)  whether  he  be  married  or  unmarried. 
Thus  sliowing  that  lust  is  an  adulterous  nature,  that  attracts 
the  human  race,  by  carnal  pleasure ;  thereby  causing  the 
violation  of  the  covenant,  by  which  God  joined  male  and 
female  tojxether  for  a  nse.  Moreover,  he  affirms  "  that  there 
be  eunuchs  who  have  made  themselves  eunuchs  for  the 
kingdom  of  heaven's  sake  ;  he  that  is  able  to  receive  it,  let 
him  receive  it."  (ib.  xix.  12.)  All  who  have  been  baptized 
with  Christ's  baptism,  of  fire  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  are  able  to 
receive  this  saying. 

Thus  the  twelve  Apostles,  and  all  who  stood  in  a  true  and 
near  relation  to  Christ  in  that  day,  did  make  themselves 
eunuchs,  by  forsaking  all  earthly,  natural  and  partial  connec- 
tions and  relations,  according  to  Christ's  own  example,  and 
positive  requirement,  that  "  except  a  man  did  forsake  father, 
mother,  tvife,  children,  and  houses  and  land,"  with  all  their 
concomitants,  "he  could  not  be  his  disciple."  (Mark,  x.  29, 
30.)  This  constituted  them  "  a  kind  of  first  fruits"  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ's  second  appearing,  wherein  all  who  had 
wives  would  make  themselves  eunuchs  for  the  sake  of  an  in- 
heritance in  the  kingdom  for  which  Christ  taught  men  to 
pray,  until  it  should  come  upon  earth.  And  thus  "  those  who 
might  have  wives  be  as  though  they  had  none,"  even 
as  those  who  might  possess  property,  would  be  as  though 
they  possessed  it  not.  (1  Cor.  vi.  29,  31.)  It  was  this 
principle  of  virgin  2^urity  that  enabled  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
Apostles  to  have  all  things  common.  And  he  that  doeth  or 
teacheth  any  thing  against  this  law  oi purity  is  less  than  the 
"least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  whether  it  be  under  the 
sanction  of  the  outward  law  of  "  the  children  of  this  world, 
who  marry  and  are  given  in  marriage,"  or  that  inspiration  be 
taken  as  a  cloak  for  such  licentious  and  carnal  gratification. 

The  principle  of  imrity  is  operating  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree  in  the  world,  more  perhaps  in  the  present  day,  than 
at  any  former  period  ;  and  some  are  thereby  enlightened  to 


INSPIRATION.  87 

see  the  depravity  of  the  fallen  generative  nature  in  all  its 
workings  (except  for  producing  offspring,)  even  in  the  mar- 
riage state ;  and  are  led  to  seek  a  reformation  in  these  re- 
spects. And  a  few,  at  times,  realizing,  as  did  the  Apostles, 
that  this  nature  "  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither 
indeed  can  be,"  (Rom.  viii.  11,)  have  abstained  from  all  its 
gratifications ;  and  for  a  time  have  run  well. 

But,  unwilling  to  continue  bearing  a  full  cross,  they  have 
sought  to  blend  the  flesh  and  spirit,  and  have  introduced  what 
they  call  ''spiritual  marriage,'"  or  community  of  wives;  teach- 
ing that  this  corrupt  nature  is  thereby  sanctified.  And  they 
profess  to  support  this  doctrine  by  revelation  from  spirits, 
which  is  utterly  contrary  to  all  the  manifestations  of  God  in 
every  dispensation  of  his  Divine  light  to  man ;  and  repugnant 
equally  to  the  order  of  nature  and  reason. 

This  doctrine  of  spiritual  marriage  is  a  vile  prostitution  of 
the  principle  of  virgin  purity,  and  a  hateful  abomination  to 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  Christ,  as  declared  in  his  reproof  to  the 
Churches  of  Ephesus  and  Pergamos.  (See  Rev.  ii.  G.)  To 
i\iQ  former  he  saith  :  "This  thou  hast,  that  thou  hatest  the 
deeds  of  the  Nicolaitans,  which  /  also  hate  ;"  and  to  the  lat- 
ter, "  So  hast  thou  also  them  that  hold  the  doctrine  of  the 
Nicolaitans,  ivhich  thing  I  hate.' '  (v.  15.)  The  doctrine  of  the 
Nicolaitans,  so  hated  by  Christ,  was  a  community  of  wives, 
or  pretended  ''spiritual  marriage^  Therefore,  whatever 
revelations  teach  or  support  it,  proceed  ivovn  false  spirits. 

Also,  the  Spii  it,  reproving  the  Church  of  Thyatira,  saith  : 
**  I  have  a  few  things  against  thee,  because  thou  sufferest 
that  woman  Jezebel,  which  calleth  herself  a  prophetess,  to 
teach  and  to  seduce  my  servants  to  commit  fornication,  and 
to  eat  things  that  are  sacrificed  unto  idols.  And  I  gave  her 
space  to  repent  of  her  fornications,  and  she  repented  not 
Behold  I  will  cast  her  into  a  bed,  and  they  that  commit 
adultery  with  her,  into  great  tribulation,  except  they  repent 
of  their  deeds.  And  I  will  kill  her  children  with  death ; 
and  I  will  give  unto  every  one  of  you  according  to  your 
works."     (Rev.  ii.  20—23.) 


88  TESTS   OF    DIVINE 

Thus  all  prophets  and  prophetesses — the  true  des(!endants 

of  this  unclean  Jezebel — who  teach  the  flesh-pleasing  and 
carnal  doctrines  of  "  sjnritual  marriage"  and  community  of 
wives,  their  light  having  become  darkness,  and  having  J^urned 
*'  the  grace  of  God  into  lasciviousness,"  both  they  and  their 
followers  are  "  killed  with  the  second  deaths 


SUMMARY. 

Virgin  purity,  or  total  abstinence  from  all  generative  and 
carnal  works,  arises  from  the  progressive  nature  of  man ;  as 
is  evident  from  the  fact,  that  the  sphere  or  plane  of  repro- 
duction is  the  first  and  lowest  of  all  rational  and  inteUigent 
existence. 

And  also  from  the  power  which  man  possesses  to  rise  into 
and  enter  upon  the  resurrection  state  or  sphere  while  he  is 
yet  in  his  first  body  and  on  the  earth. 

**  The  pure  in  heart  shall  see  God." 

Virgin  purity  is  the  root  of  religious  communion.  Sexual 
relations  confine  the  love  principle  in  man  to  a  small  circle, 
of  which  self  is  the  centre. 

A  natural  man  first  loves  himself — then  his  wife, — his 
children, — his  neighborhood, — his  state, — his  country, — 
his  race.  But,  when  he  receives  the  love  of  God  in  Christ, 
his  love  extends  to  all  the  intelligent  creation  of  God, 
whether  in  or  out  of  the  body. 

This  love  leads  him  to  "  hate  his  wife,  his  children,  and 
his  own  life  also."     (See  Luke,  xiv.  26.) 

If  the  natural  man  is  thus  to  "  hate  his  own  life,"  as  Jesus 
said  all  who  come  to  him  must  do ;  it  is  very  important  to 
know  what  that  referred  to. 

The  life  of  the  natural  man  is  the  generative  poioer,  by 
which  he  propagntes  or  transmits  his  own  life  to  other  beings. 
This  is  therefoi-e  "  his  own  life,"  which  he  must  hate.  In 
which  case,  to  be  consistent,  he  will  hate  also,  the  products 
of  that  lustful  life-principle  that  caused  him  to  "  make  pro- 


INSPIRATION.  89 

vision  for  the  flesh,  to  fulfil  the  lusts  thereof,"  by  converting 
a  woman  into  a  ivife,  and  the  wife  into  a  mother;  the  ivife  and 
mother  he  will  hate  with  vehement  indignation,  but  not  the 
iooir{an ;  so  also  of  children,  houses,  lands,  &c.  He  will  feel 
that  such  generative  connections,  however  much  increased  and 
ramified,  form  by  far  too  small  and  antagonistic  a  sphere  for 
the  operation  of  the  principle  of  universal  spiritual  Gospel 
love. 

Thus  he  becomes  a  virgin  character, — a  spiritual  man ; 
and  is  a  religious  communist — a  Christian. 

Such  were  Christ  and  his  twel ve. Apostles ;  and  such 
thousands  have  tried  to  be,  but  failed  ;  because  the  time  or 
"  day  of  full  salvation,  strength,  and  power"  had  not  come. 
Christ  had  not  made  his  second  appearance,  to  set  up  the 
kingdom  of  God  upon  earth,  in  which  all  men  who  even 
already  "  had  wives,  should  be  as  those  who  had  none." 

As  this  is  the  order  of  the  **  angels  in  heaven,  who  neither 
marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage,"  it  is  an  infallible  test  by 
which  every  spirit  who  opposes  virgin  purity,  "  and  teaches 
men  so,"  is  proved  to  be  less  than  the  least  in  that  angelic 
or  heavenly  order ;  and  that  they  have  not  yet  risen  into  the 
resurrection  state  or  sphere. 

Light  upon  this  subject  is  increasing  among  mankind. 
Many  of  the  most  enlightened  physiologiste  affirm  that  it  is 
a  violation  of  natural  laws,  and  injurious  to  both  the  physi- 
cal and  intellectual  faculties,  to  use  the  reproductive  powers 
for  any  other  than  procreative  purposes. 

And,  when  persons  see  that  this  is  the  law  of  naiiire,  it 
will  be  manifest  to  them  that  it  is  but  a  short  step  to  the 
full  and  perfect  cross  of  Christ. 

With  such  mighty  power  is  this  truth  working  its  way 
among  men,  that  many  who  received  the  light  and  refused  to 
obey  it,  have  abolished  marriage,  and  adopted  the  abominable 
and  damnable  "  doctrines  of  the  Nicolaitans"  and  **  Jezebel," 
and  practise  promiscuous  whoredom  ;  claiming  that  to  be 


90  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

the  resurrection  state,  in  which  they  **  neither  many  nor  are 
given  in  marriage." 

And  as  spiritual  light  continues  to  increase,  thousands 
more  will  be  forced  to  choose  one  of  these  two  alternatives  ; — 
either  to  follow  the  " Perfectionists''  in  the  wake  of  Jezebel 
and  Nicolas  ;*  or  to  become  perfect  Christians  by  making 
**  themselves  Eunuchs  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's  sake." 

The /ormer  having  (by  the  truth)  once  been  made  alive 
from  the  death  and  darkness  that  all  are  under  by  nature, 
and  then  having  '*  crucified  the  Son  of  God  afresh,  and  put 
him  to  open  shame,"  by  their  filthy  and  obscene  practices 
in  his  name,  are  really  and  truly  partakers  of  **  the  second 
death." 

While  the  latter,  having  "  crucified  the  old  man  with  all 
his  affections  and  lusts,"  by  the  cross  of  Christ,  after  the  ex- 
ample of  the  Founders  of  the  first  and  second  Christian 
Churches,  are  thereby  made  partakers  of  eternal  life ;  and 
over  whom  "  the  second  death  hath  no  power." 


PEACE. 


It  has  been  a  common  and  universal  error,  in  all  ages, 
among  those  who  were  not  spiritually  educated  and  en- 
lightened, to  imagine  that  the  spiritual  messenger  who  held 
immediate  intercourse  with  them,  and  who  was  "  their  God'' 
was  the  Creator  of  the  universe ;  and  therefore,  that  what- 
ever they  were  indulged  in,  or  permitted  to  practise,  was 
per  se  good  and  true. 

And  consequently,  when,  in  different  ages,  the  require- 
ments of  God  varied,  so  that  what  was,  by  "  the  Lord  their 

*  Nicolas  was  one  of  the  seven  deacons  in  the  primitive  Church  ;  he 
it  was  who  introduced  the  doctrine  of  commuuioy  of  wives,  because 
they  had  community  of  property. 


INSPIRATION.  91 

God,"  allowed  in  one  age,  was  prohibited  and  condemned 
in  another  ;  and  they  could  perceive  that  the  last  given  laws, 
judgments,  and  decisions  of  "  their  God"  were  always  the 
most  true,  and  right,  and  good ;  they  then  came  to  the  sa- 
pient conclusion  that  "  their  God'''  had  progressed,  and  was 
all  the  time  changinor  for  the  better. 

This  was  about  as  abnormal  an  inference  as  it  would  be 
for  travellers  in  a  car,  going  at  the  rate  of  fifty  miles  an 
hour,  to  beheve  that  they  were  stationary,  and  that  the 
fences,  and  fields,  and  buildings,  &c.  were  passing  by  them 
at  that  rate  of  progress. 

It  is  from  these  erroneous  and  absurd  premises,  assumed 
by  the  professors  of  religion  themselves,  together  with  the 
inhuman  persecutions  and  cruelties  practised  by  them,  that 
infidel  writers  have  treated  them,  their  God,  and  their  theo- 
logical systems  with  so  much  ridicule  and  contempt. 

Religion  has  been  more  loounded,  in  the  house  of  its  pro- 
fessed friends,  by  illogical  doctrines,  flowing  from  persons 
whose  minds  were  beclouded  and  darkened  by  their  sensual 
and  wicked  lives,  than  by  all  the  infidel  writers  in  the  creation. 
In  fact,  a  great  part  of  the  deductions  of  these  writers  were 
correct,  according  to  the  premises  religionists  had  given  them. 

If  all  that  the  Jewish  nation  did  in  the  name  of  their  God, 
was  in  obedience  to  a  direct  emanation  from  the  Divine  mind  ; 
we  can  only  say,  that  God  has  a  right  to  do  lorong.  For,  in 
that  case,  that  which  was  right  two  thousand  years  ago,  is, 
beyond  all  controversy,  wrong  now,  in  the  light  of  the  Fourth 
Era,  or  second  Christian  Church. 

It  is  the  human  race  who  have  progressed — travelled, — 
changed — not  God. 

Moses  was  as  God  to  Aaron ;  and  Aaron  was  his  priest  to 
Israel.     (See  Ex.  iv.  16.) 

If  the  Great  Greater  of  all  things,  in  the  first  and  second 
Eras,  spoke  to  Adam,  Noah,  Abraham,  and  others,  face  to 
fa4:e,  how  happens  it,  that  in  the  Third  and  Fourth  Eras  Jesus 
Christ  was  sent  to  be  the   Me  liator  bctiveen  God  and  man  ?■ 


92  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

and  that  Jesus  said,  "  He  that  receive th  you,  receiveth  me ; 
and  he  that  receiveth  me,  receiveth  him  that  sent  me?" — 
thus  clearly  exhibiting  the  doctrine  of  mediator  ship  y  and  the 
office  of  medium  between  himself  (Christ)  and  the  different 
classes  of  character  among  the  human  family. 

And  therefore,  upon  this  principle,  it  is  obvious  that  the 
very  best  saints  and  Christians  on  earth  are  not  now  so  near 
to  Christ  as  the  stiffnecked,  lustful,  butchering,  and  rebel- 
lious Jews  were  to  God  the  Creator  of  all ! 

The  truth  is,  as  John  said,  "  No  man  hath  seen  God  at 
any  time.  The  only  begotten  Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom  of 
the  Father,  he  hath  declared  Him." 

When  the  Revelator,  John,  fell  down  to  worship  an  angel, 
he  commanded  him  to  desist,  saying,  "  I  am  also  of  thy  fel- 
low-servants the  prophets." 

The  Apostle  Paul  saith,  "  The  law  was  ministered  by  an- 
gels." 

The  more  animal  or  sunken  any  people  are,  the  greater  is 
the  7iumber  of  mediums  between  them  and  the  original  Foun- 
tain or  Source  of  good — God. 

As  in  a  Lancasterian  School,  where  there  are  a  great  num- 
ber of  classes,  each  having  a  monitor,  and  none  but  the  first 
jnonitor  of  the  highest  class  having  di^-ect  access  to  the  school- 
master, the  scholars  in  the  youngest  and  lowest  class  have 
the  greatest  number  of  monitors,  or  mediums  between  them 
and  the  principal  teacher ;  so  is  God's  government  of  this 
world. 

And,  as  many  things  would  be  allowed  to  the  younger 
classes  by  their  moiiitors,  which  would  be  condemned  and 
cut  off  when  they  rose  into  the  higher  classes  ;  so  it  is  with 
men ;  for  their  God,  or  spiritual  monitor  or  mediators,  would 
allow  and  bless  them  in  that  which  would  be  condemned  and 
cut  off  in  the  class  or  order  above. 

Jesus  said,  "Moses,  because  of  the  hardness  of  your  hearts, 
suffered  you  to  put  away  your  wives  ;  hut  from  the  hcginning 
it  waJi  not  so.''     Moses  said,  "  An  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth 


INSPIRATION.  93 

for  a  tooth  ;"  but  I  say,  *'  Resist  not  evil :  if  a  man  smite  thco 
on  one  cheek,  turn  to  him  tlie  other ;"  "  love  your  enemies" — 
not  kill  them.  Moses  taught  loar  ;  Christ  taught  peace  ; — 
was  the  Prince  of  peace. 

But  we  see  that  mankind  were  not  able  to  receive  him,  his 
life,  or  his  doctrines  ;  and  have  gone  in  direct  violation  of 
them  all — especially  in  regard  to  j^eace  and  virgin  p)urity — 
up  to  this  day,  even  though  professing  to  be  his  followers, 
and  guided  by  his  Spirit. 

Is  it,  then,  any  marvel,  if  professed  Christians,  who  have 
for  fifteen  centuries  waged  bloody  and  relentless  wars 
against  each  other,  under  the  banner  and  in  the  name  of  the 
"  Prince  of  Peace,"  that  the  Jews,  "  because  of  the  hardness 
of  their  hearts,"  should  be  directed  of  Moses  to  exterminate 
the  wicked  and  abominable  inhabitants  of  the  land  of  Canaan? 

But  Jesus  Christ  said,  "  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world. 
If  my  kingdom  were  of  this  world,  then  would  my  servants 
fight."  (John,  xviii.  36.)  Consequently,  those  who  fight, 
and  all  who  aid  or  abet  war,  in  any  way,  are  not  Christ's 
servants,  whatever  their  profession.  Contrariwise  :  He  said, 
*'  Love  your  enemies ;  bless  them  that  curse  you ;  do  good 
to  them  that  hate  you ;  and  pray  for  them  which  despite- 
fully  use  you  and  persecute  you ;  that  ye  may  be  the  chil- 
dren of  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven,  who  causeth  his  sun 
to  shine  upon  the  evil,  and  upon  the  good  ;  and  who  send- 
eth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust."  (Matt.  v.  44,  45.) 
"  If  thine  enemy  hunger,  feed  him  ;  if  he  thirst,  give  him 
drink."  (Rom.  xii.  20.)  "  Overcome  evil  with  good"  (v.  21.) 
"  If  a  man  smite  thee  on  thy  right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the 
other  also."     (Matt.  v.  39.) 

And  Jesus  declared,  that  "  they  that  take  the  sword, 
should  perish  by  the  sword."  (Matt.  xxvi.  52  )  There- 
fore every  spirit  or  influence  that  teaches  that  violence  and 
war,  can  have  any  part  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  either  in  his 
first  or  second  appearing,  isfabe,  and  under  the  darkness  of 
this  fallen   world.     For  the  Lord  by  his  propliets  declared, 


94  TESTS   OF  DIVINE 

lliat  in  the  restoration  of  the  Church,  of  the  hitter  day, — 
**  the  city  of  the  Lord,  tlie  Zion  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel," 
— "  Violence  shall  no  more  be  heard  in  thy  land,  nor  wasting 
nor  destruction  within  thy  borders."  (Is.  Ix.  8,  14.)  Again, 
the  Lord  declares  that  he  (Christ)  "shall  judge  among  the 
nations,  and  shall  rebuke  many  people ;  and  they  shall  beat 
their  swords  into  ploughshares,  and  their  spears  into  pruning 
hooks ;  nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  nation,  neither 
shall  they  learn  war  any  more'''  (Is.  ii.  4.)  For  "  they  shall 
not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  my  holy  mountain ;  for  the  earth 
shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters 
cover  the  sea."     (Is.  xi.  9.) 

Thus,  in  Christ,  is  confirmed  the  principle  of  i-)eace,  no 
less  by  his  works  than  by  his  words ;  for,  when  he  was  re- 
viled, he  reviled  not  again."  (1  Pet.  ii.  23.)  All  his  precepts 
and  his  life,  ending  as  it  did,  with  a  prayer  for  those  who 
slew  him,  is  a  rebuke  of  war  and  bloodshed,  and  prove  him 
to  be  the  first  of  that  company  so  beautifully  and  touchingly 
described  in  his  own  words  :  "  Blessed  are  the  peacemakers, 
for  they  shall  be  called  the  children  of  God."     (Matt.  v.  9.) 

SUMMARY. 

God  cannot  minister  good  and  tnith  to  the  human  race, 
except  as  they  become  recipients  thereof  by  a  progressive 
development  of  their  faculties  and  understandings. 

It  is  man — not  God — that  changes.  And  all  have  to  be 
blessed  in  that  measure  of  light,  and  good,  and  truth  they 
can  bear,  and  by  which  they  can  be  profited. 

Therefore,  if  any  spirit  sanction  war,  in  any  of  its  phases, 
or  under  any  circumstances  whatever,  it  is  a  positive  and  in- 
dubitable proof,  that  such  spirit  is  either  knowingly  wicked, 
or  is  an  ignorant  spirit,  of  a  low  class  and  order,  and  is  under 
one  of  the  first  two  Eras,  and  that  **  he  hath  not  yet  seen 
Christ,  neither  known  him,"  in  either  his  first  or  second  ap- 
pearance. 


INSPIRATION,  95 


TRUTH. 

God  is  a  God  of  truth.  *'  It  is  impossible  for  God  to 
lie."  (Heb.  vi.  16.)  Any  spirit  that  teaches  contradictory 
doctrines,  or  which  teaches  contrary  to  Christ,  who  is  **  the 
truth''  is  not  of  God.  For  "  He  is  the  same  yesterday,  to- 
day, and  forever."  (Heb.  xiii.  8.)  And  God  promised,  by 
the  prophet  Isaiah,  that  "  in  the  day  when  the  Redeemer 
should  come  to  Zion,  and  to  them  that  turn  away  from  un- 
godUness  in  Jacob :  As  for  me,  this  is  my  covenant  with 
them,  saith  the  Lord  :  My  Spirit  that  is  upon  thee,  and  my 
words  which  1  have  put  in  thy  mouth,  shall  not  depart  out 
of  thy  mouth,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed,  nor  out  of 
the  mouth  of  thy  seed's  seed,  saith  the  Lord,  from  hence- 
forth and  forever."  (Is.  lix,  20,  21.)  This  shows  the  con- 
tinuance and  lier'petuity  of  the  law  of  Christ,  (which  was 
revealed  in  part  in  his  first  appearing)  as  being  fully  carried 
out  in  the  time  of  his  second  appearing. 

Consistency,  or  truthfulness,  on  the  part  of  spirits  who 
claim  to  be  sent  of  God,  cannot  be  dispensed  with ;  for  all 
spiritual  revealments,  coming  from  one  and  the  same  source, 
confirm  and  sustain  each  other,  though  thousands  of  years 
intervene. 

Mahy  of  the  spirits  speak  lightly  of  the  Scriptures,  or 
records  of  former  Divine  revelations,  because  there  is  no 
true  light  in  themselves,  rather  than  because  they  have  so 
superior  an  insight  into,  and  greater  depth  of,  revelation, 
that  they  can  detect  the  errors  (if  any)  contained  therein. 

These  Tests,  however,  are  designed  to  show — that  levc- 
latioa  and  progress  in  the  work  of  God,  in  each  of  the  Four 
great  Eras,  involving  (as  they  do)  great  and  important  radi- 
cal changes,  are  all  peifectly  compatible  with  each  otlier  ; 
notwithstanding  the  hatred  and  determined  opposition  with 
which   those   in   the   Mosaic   Era  had  to  contend,  from  the 


96  TESTS  OF  DIVINE 

leaders  in  the  Patriarchal ;  and  those  of  the  first  Christian 
Era,  from  the  leaders  in  the  Mosaic  ;  and  those  of  the  second 
Christian  Dispensation  from  the  hierarchy  of  the  professed 
Christian  loorld.  Each  of  these  classes  of  opposers  of  pro- 
gress (in  their  respective  time)  supposed  the  revelation  of 
the  coming  Era  would  be  subversive  of,  and  conflicting  to, 
the  revelation  of  the  one  in  which  they  lived. 

Yet  the  authors  and  leaders  of  each  succeeding  Dispensa- 
tion did  invariably  bear  testimony  to  the  Divine  origin  of  its 
predecessor.  Thus,  Jesus  said  unto  the  Jews :  **  Do  not 
think  that  I  will  accuse  you  unto  the  Father :  there  is  one 
that  accuseth  you,  even  Moses,  in  whom  ye  trust.  For,  had 
ye  believed  Moses,  ye  would  have  believed  me  :  for  he  wrote 
of  me.  But,  if  ye  believe  not  his  writings,  how  shall  ye  be- 
lieve my  words?"  (John,  v.)  Therefore,  he  exhorted  them 
to  "  search  the  Scriptures"  of  the  past  Dispensation,  and 
said,  "  In  them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life  ;  and  they  are 
they  which  testify  of  me.  And  ye  will  not  come  to  me,  that 
ye  might  have  life."  Consequently,  as  the  Jews  thought 
that  eternal  life  could  be  found  in  their  Scriptures,  they 
would  not  seek  it  in  Christ,  where  only  it  can  be  obtained. 

The  ignorance,  or  pride,  or  selfish  ambition  of  man  has 
caused  all  the  apparent  contradictory  opposition  of  one  Di- 
vine revelation  to  another,  in  the  difl:erent  Dispensations,  or 
in  the  various  degrees  of  the  same  Dispensation. 

In  most  of  the  instances  in  which  great  men,  long  since 
departed  from  this  earth,  have  been  announced  as  being 
present  at  the  spiritual  circles  in  the  land,  it  is  not  true,  as 
many  suppose,  that  they  are  really  present. 

If  the  manifestation  be  genuine,  then  it  is  an  emanation 
from  the  person  named,  proceeding  through  a  greater  or 
lesser  number  of  spheres  and  mediums  in  those  spheres, 
according  to  the  distance  that  such  person  has  progressed 
from  the  condition  or  state  of  the  person  or  persons  who  are 
the  receivers  of  the  communication. 

If,  for  instance,  men  think  of  Franklin,  or  of  any  oth^r  dis- 


INSPIRATION.  97 

tinguished  persons,  they  form  their  ideas  of  him,  or  them, 
from  their  history  and  character  as  known  to  them  when 
upon  earth,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  as  the  case  may  be. 

Therefore,  provided  Franklin  have  remained  perfectly  sta- 
tionary, in  and  as  to  his  spiritual  travel  and  state,  from  the 
day  of  his  death  until  now,  then  it  is  a  supposable  case  that 
he  should  appear  at  a  circle  of  persons  whose  state  and  con- 
dition is  similar  to  his  own. 

But,  if  Franklin  has  been  progressing  from  faith  to  faith, 
and  from  one  order  to  another  in  the  invisible  world,  then, 
and  in  that  case,  a  real  manifestation  of  his  present  self  would 
not  be  a  manifestation  of  Frankhn  at  all,  as  he  now  exists  in 
the  minds  of  mankind  upon  earth ;  and  therefore  he  could 
not  he  known.  Thus,  if  we  were  particularly  and  intimately 
acquainted  with  a  boy  seven  years  old,  and  should  see  him 
no  more  until  he  was  sixty  years  of  age,  how  little  we  should 
know  of  the  person  or  real  character  of  that  man ! 

And,  as  Jesus  assumed  different  appearances,  to  adapt 
himself  to  the  state  of  his  disciples  after  his  exit  from  the 
body,  so  do  those  spirits  for  whose  name  men  feel  a  venera- 
tion, (and  under  the  sanction  of  which,  they  will  receive 
truth  that  would  otherwise  be  unpalatable)  commission, 
when  permitted  so  to  do,  for  good  and  wise  purposes,  some 
other  spirits,  whose  sphere  and  state  are  favorable,  to  impart 
it  in  their  name,  and  to  personify  their  peculiar  characteristics 
when  upon  earth.  It  is  also  clearly  demonstrable,  that  spirits 
often  falsely  assume  the  name  of  some  highly  distinguished 
and  esteemed  character,  to  give  weight  and  authority  to 
communications  which  in  themselves  are  untruthful  or  evil. 

All  men  (if  worthy)  have  guardian  angels,  and  sometimes 
ministering  spirits  to  do  their  bidding,  as  in  the  instance  of 
Jesus,  who,  when  the  centurion  besought  him  to  heal  his 
servant,  offered  to  go  and  do  so  ;  "  but  the  centurion  snid. 
Lord,  speak  the  word  only,  and  my  servant  shall  be  healed. 
For  I  am  a  man  under  authority,  having  soldiers  under  me ; 
and  I  say  to  this  man.  Go,  and  he  goeth  ;  and  to  another, 
Conaft.  and  he  cometh  ;  and  to  my  servant,   Do  this,  and  he 


08  TESTS   OF   inVlNE 

doeth  it.  When  Jesus  he  ird  it,  he  marvelled,  and  said, 
Verily,  I  have  not  found  so  great  faith,  no,  not  in  Israel." 
(Matt.  viii.  5  to  10.) 

These  remarks  of  the  centurion  implied  that  he  thought 
Jesus  had  many  spirits  who  would  come  at  his  call,  and  go 
and  do  whatever  he  desired.  This  belief  was  common  to  the 
Jews.     (See  Acts,  xii.  15.) 

On  another  occasion,  Jesus  stated  that  he  could  ask  for 
and  receive  **  more  than  twelve  lections  of  anj^els." 

An  instance  is  known  to  the  writer  of  a  spirit  that  com- 
municated for  a  great  length  of  time  in  the  name  of  a  certain 
person,  and  then  stated  that  he  had  never  even  seen  that 
person,  but  was  only  his  emissary,  satellite,  or  ministering 
spirit — a  medium  between  that  person  and  his  friends  in  the 
body. 

The  physical  manifestations,  now  so  common,  are,  in  all 
probability,  produced  entirely  by  a  low  class  and  order  of 
spirits,  who  are  themselves  but  a  small  remove  from  the  state  - 
of  the  world  unto  whom  they  are  appointed  or  allowed  to 
minister.  Thus  showing  the  correspondence  to  be  between 
the  world  of  mankind  out  of  the  body,  and  the  world  of  man- 
kind in  the  body  ; — all  being  in  the  same  spiritual  state  and 
sphere,  and  under  the  influence  of  the  same  passions,  appe- 
tites, affections,  and  desires. 

They  are  only  to  be  depended  upon  as  clearly  demonstra- 
ting the  immortality  of  the  soul,  the  existence  of  the  spirit 
world,  and  a  probationary  state  therein.  But,  beyond  that, 
it  is  a  great  question  whether  they  can  be  any  more  relied 
upon,  than  could  the  same  number  of  worldly  spirits  in  the 
body  who  are  still  in  the  generative  order. 

It  is  also  a  question,  whether  those  who  are  not  of  the 
world,  and  who  therefore  do  not  need  physical  manifestations 
to  convince  them  of  the  above  truths,  would  not  be  in  dan- 
ger of  losing  the  good  already  in  their  possession,  instead  of 
gaining  more,  by  coming  in  contact,  unnecessarily,  with  that 
class  of  spirits. 

A  late  writer  thus  intelligently  discourses  upon  this  ab- 


INSPIRATION.  99 

strusc  subject :  "  The  craving  want  of  the  human  mind,  at 
present,  is  a  pneumatoJogy,  or  a  science  of  spiritual  life  ;  for 
the  evidences  of  an  intimate  connection  between  matter  and 
spiiit  are  daily  becoming  more  marked  and  distinctive.  The 
facts,  however,  are  far  ahead  of  the  principles,  as  is  evident 
from  the  various  and  conflicting  opinions  that  arc  indulged ; 
and  the  mind  is  waiting  for  some  special  law  by  which  tliese 
developments,  or  spiritual  manifestations,  may  be  resolved 
and  known. 

"  This  law,  in  the  meantime,  is  known  to  the  spiritually  in- 
telligent, and  can  be  made  the  subject  of  rational  thought. 
The  intermediate  principle,  or  that  ground  common  to  spirit 
and  matter,  is  the  circumambient  accretion  *  which  goes  with 
the  spirit  into  the  spirit  world,  and  which  forms  the  cuticle, 
or  envelope,  of  the  spiritual  body.  It  is  this  surrounding  or 
clothing  principle,  composed  of  the  '  finest  parts  of  nature,' 
w^hich  recedes  at  the  death  of  the  natural  body,  and  forms 
the  continent  or  cuticle  of  the  spiritual  organization.  This 
envelope  is  composed  of  natural,  not  material,  substances, 
and  is  that  principle  in  the  spiritual  world  which  retains  or 
gives  form  to  the  body,  and  which,  at  the  same  time,  is  the 
intermediate  between  the  two  worlds. 

"  Hence  spirits  act  upon  material  things  by  touching  the 
first  principles  or  subtile  forces  of  nature,  and  thus  obtain  a 
leverage  of  which  man  in  the  body  is  incapable.  And  this 
retroactive  tendency  is  in  proportion  to  the  aflfinity  with  the 
aflfairs  of  the  natural  world  which  the  spirit  may  have  retain- 
ed at  death. 

"  Spiritual  physical  communications  are  numerous  in  pro- 
portion as  the  state  of  man  is  low.  This  is  verified  by  the 
experience  of  past  ages,  and  especially  in  the  case  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  even  of  the  Jews.  When  sought  for  by  man, 
these  communications  have  been  generally  evil  in  their  influ- 
ence ;  and  hence  they  are  strictly  condemned  in  the  Scriptures. 

**  They  imply  the  defect  of  angelic  communications  through 
the  existing  formal  churches  and  want  of  faith  in  the  Scrip- 


100  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

tures  ;  and  are  thus  of  permission,  in  certain  states  of  the 
human  mind,  in  order  to  confirm  the  truths  of  revelation  on 
the  mere  natural  or  sensuous  plane. 

"  It  has  been  remarked,  by  a  physiologist,  well  qualified 
to  speak  on  this  subject,  from  his  knowledge  of  pneumatolo- 
gy,  that  some  men  are  only  half  dead  when  they  leave  the 
natural  world,  and  that,  consequently,  their  minds  are  mun- 
dane still.  Hence  their  apparitions  are  the  re-appearance  of 
the  soul  in  nature,  as  the  more  appropriate  sphere.  He  com- 
pares their  life  in  the  other  world,  to  foetuses  in  this  world; 
and,  as  birth  here  is  sometimes  incomplete  because  the  bodi- 
ly changes  have  not  properly  occurred ;  so  is  birth  into  that 
world  from  this,  or  death  as  we  term  it,  incomplete  for  the 
same  reasons  in  the  spiritual  view  of  the  case ;  and  haunting 
is  the  oscillation  between  the  mundane  and  supermundane 
spheres. 

"  This  is  certainly  a  good  illustration  of  the  subject.  In 
proportion  as  death  is  perfect,  this  earthly  sphere  perishes 
from  the  mind ;  and,  as  men  leave  the  world  without  dying 
to  it,  or  leave  it  reluctantly,  they  are  still  haunting  it  and 
struggling  earthward  again.  This  may  be  verified  by  com- 
mon experience  in  earthly  life,  as  when,  for  instance,  men  die 
to  certain  states  of  mind,  and  succeed  to  others  of  a  higher 
degree,  the  affinity  for  the  former  state  is  gone,  and  there  is 
no  real  connection  left  between  them ;  nay,  there  is  an  actual 
antipathy  between  them ;  and  the  death  of  the  former  states 
may  then  be  said  really  to  have  taken  place. 

"  In  this  point  of  view,  vast  numbers  who  are  now  leaving 
the  world,  do  not  fairly  die,  or  they  die  very  hard.  Their 
thoughts  and  feelings  are  all  here ;  and  is  it  any  wonder  that 
they  should  haunt  their  former  states,  and  struggle  hard  to 
communicate  with  earth,  in  order  to  find  subjects  here  by 
which  to  ultimate  their  ruling  loves  ?  They  are  mere  abor- 
tions among  spirits,  and  their  communications  to  us  from  that 
world  consequently  partake  of  the  quality  of  their  life. 

"  We  have  heard  of  a  society  who  have  gone  to  some  part 


INSPIRATION.  101 

of  Virginia,  to  live  according  to  laws  which  this  class  of  spirits 
shall  dictate.  Nothing  but  insanity,  or  the  most  vapid  folly, 
can  possibly  result  from  such  an  irrational  mode  of  proceed- 
ing as  this. 

"  Upon  the  principle  here  adduced,  it  is  easy  to  see  what 
quality  of  spirits  seek  generally  to  hold  intercourse  with  the 
natural  world.  They  are  spirits  who  are  hanging  upon  the 
confines  of  this  earthly  scene,  and  who  are  not  yet  fairly  con- 
scious of  their  birth  into  that  other  world.  They  have  their 
philosophies,  their  insanities,  their  false  dogmas,  and  all  their 
earthly  views  and  tendencies  in  full  activity,  as  their  vapid 
communications  abundantly  testify. 

"  Though  these  are  fooHsh  and  insane,  however,  as  to  any 
thing  that  is  good,  they  are  not  wanting  in  the  subtlety  and 
malignity  which  pertains  to  the  evil ;  and  in  this  point  of  view, 
there  is  no  limit  to  the  danger  of  consulting  them.  The  hells 
we  know  are  relentless  ;  and  these  spirits  may  thence  be  made 
the  fitting  mediums  to  confirm  and  establish  the  direful  per- 
suasions of  what  is  false,  as  well  as  to  manifest  the  atrocious 
quality  of  what  is  evil. 

"There  is  a  lesson  to  be  learned  here  by  the  earthly  and 
sensual  classes  of  society.  If  you  are  accumulating  wealth, 
without  reference  to  any  uses  to  be  performed,  but  only  with 
the  view  of  seeking  honor  and  ease  among  men,  you  are  edu- 
cating for  a  sphere  where  you  will  be  continually  agitated  by 
these  ruling  loves,  only  to  be  eternally  thwarted  and  disap- 
pointed. 

"  If  you  are  now  seeking  merely  the  indulgence  of  the 
senses,  you  will  live  only  in  phantasies  hereafter,  where 
you  will  be  forever  duped  and  tormented  by  these  very  senses 
in  fitful  visions.  If  you  are  seeking  to  rule  from  self-love, 
and  to  gain  dominion  for  the  sake  of  that  love,  you  will  be- 
come the  vile  slaves  of  others  by  turns,  who  are  in  the  lust  of 
the  same  direful  passion.  And  if  malignant  passions  more 
especially  rule,by  habits  of  malice  and  uncharitableness  acquired 
here,  you  will  feel  the  torments  of  that  hell  where  each  spirit 


102  TESTS  OF   DIVINE 

is  felt  to  be  the  enemy  of  the  other,  and  where  all  conspire 
to  swell  the  vast  sea  of  conflicting  and  tormenting  passions. 

"  Like  seeks  like  in  the  world  of  spirits  ;  and  men  wake  up 
there  as  they  go  to  sleep  here." 

Consequently,  if  those  who  are  "  in  the  resurrection,"  de- 
rive any  proper  spiritual  food,  through  the  medium  of  the 
material  or  rapping  spirits,  it  must  first  emanate  from  their 
own  proper  guardian  spirits,  who  also  employ  and  supervise 
those  material  or  worldjy  spirits  in  its  ministration ;  which 
spiritual  food  and  its  ministration,  must  either  accord  and 
fully  agree  with  all  the  tests  and  criterions  of  all  the  Eras, 
as  set  forth  in  this  book,  or  good  and  unanswerable  reasons 
and  evidence  be  given  for  such  disagreement  with  any  par- 
ticular test  or  principle,  amounting  to  a  refutation  or  dispro- 
val  of  the  same. 


THE   SPIRITUAL   MAN. 

And,  finally,  the  greatest  evidence  that  can  ever  be  given 
to  man  of  the  eternal  truth  and  unchangeable  principles  of 
godliness,  is  given  when  he  finds  in  his  oion  soul  that  abiding 
revelation  by  which  he  is  freed  from  all  doubts  and  uncer- 
tainties as  to  his  present  and  future  state ;  and  of  the  duty 
which  God  requires  of  him.  And  w^lien  he  experiences  the 
operation  of  that  Spirit  which  enables  him  to  live  a  perfect 
life,  so  that  he  can  stand  in  justification,  "  having  a  conscience 
void  of  offence  towards  both  God  and  man,"  according  to  the 
pattern  exhibited  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  '*  the  Captain  of  our 
salvation." 

Thus  being  not  conformed  to  the  world,  but  transformed" 
therefrom,  into  the  image  of  Christ,  he  will  be  in  posses- 
sion of  the  infallible  standard  of  revelation,   which,  when 


INSPIRATION.  103 

upright!}^  applied,  will  never  fail :  for  herein  are  the  words 
of  Christ  verified :  "  If  any  man  will  do  my  Father's  will,  he 
shall  know  of  the  doctrine,  whether  it  be  of  God,  or  whether 
I  speak  of  myself."     (John,  vii.  17.) 

And  every  thing  in  any  soul  short  of  this  point — "  As 
Christ  is,  so  are  lue  in  this  world,""  (1  John,  iv.  1 7),  will  not  only 
fail  to  give  boldness  and  confidence,  in  the  great  "  day  of  judg- 
ment," but  it  will  also  leave  such  soul  in  a  state  of  spritual 
darkness  that  will  utterly  disqualify  it  to  "try  the  spirits." 

This  Christ  state  being  attained  by  all  those  individuals 
who  compose  the  collective  body  or  Church  of  Christ's  Se- 
cond Appearing,  the  following  expressive  prophecy  is  ful- 
filled :  "  The  Lord  hath  redeemed  Jacob,  and  ransomed  him 
irora  the  hand  of  him  that  was  stronger  than  he.  Therefore, 
they  shall  come  and  sing  in  the  height  of  Zion,  and  shall  flow 
together  to  the  goodness  of  the  Lord,  for  wheat,  and  for 
wine,  and  for  oil,  and  for  the  young  of  the  flock  and  of  the 
herd  :  and  their  soul  shall  be  as  a  watered  garden  :  and  they 
shall  not  sorrow  any  more  at  all.  Then  shall  the  virgin  re- 
joice in  the  dance,  both  young  men  and  old  together ;  for  I 
will  turn  their  mourning  into  joy,  and  will  comfort  them,  and 
make  them  rejoice  from  their  sorrow.  And  I  will  satiate 
the  soul  of  the  priest  with  fatness,  and  my  people  shall  be 
satisfied  with  my  goodness,  saith  the  Lord."  ( Jer.  xxxi.  1 1 — 
14.) 

This  could  never  have  been  testified  truly  of  the  work 
of  any  2)rcc€dinr/  di;?pensation  ;  for,  although  the  faithful  sub- 
jects therein  found  justification  according  to  the  order  and 
work  of  their  day  ;  yet  they  all  acknowledged  a  lack  of  that 
perfection  which  only  could  have  satisfied  their  souls.  But 
these  promises  evidently  point  to  the  Fourth  and  last  Era, 
wherein  "  Christ  should  make  an  end  of  sin,  and  bring  in 
everlasting  righteousness,"  (Dan.  ix.  24,)  and  in  which  no 
prophets  should  be  required  to  teach  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord ;  "  for  all  should  know  him,  from  the  least  of  them  unto 
the  greatest  of  them."     (Jer.  xxxi.  34.) 


104  TESTS   OF    DIVINE 

And  in  that  era,  the  universal  testimony  of  all  is,  that  the 
*'  serpent's  head"  (the  lust  of  the  flesh)  is  bruised  in  them; 
and  that  "  Now  is  come  salvation  and  strength^  and  the  king- 
dom of  our  God,  and  the  power  of  his  Christ.'"  (Rev.  xii.  10.) 
Thus,  in  Zion  only,  to  which  all  the  preceding  Dispensations 
referred,  and  of  which  all  the  prophets  and  righteous  have 
spoken  since  the  world  began,  "  has  God  placed  salvation  for 
Israel  his  glory  ;"  (Is.  xlvi.  13  ;)  whilst  the  most  godly  in  for- 
mer ages,  all  came  far  short,  in  tlieir  personal  experience,  of 
a  work  of  redemption;  and  says  Isaiah,  (xxvi.  28,)  "We 
have  been  in  pain ;  we  have,  as  it  were,  brought  forth  wind  ; 
we  have  not  wrought  any  deliverance  in  the  earth." 

The  Apostles  also,  (who  stood  in  Christ's  first .  Church,; 
inform  us  that  "  David"  (the  man  after  God's  own  heart) 
"  had  not  yet  ascended  into  the  heavens."  (Acts,  ii.  34.) 
Therefore,  if  he,  David,  ever  did  ascend  into  the  heavenly 
state,  it  must  have  been  in  consequence  of  hearing  the  ever- 
lasting Gospel  preached  to  him  in  the  spiritual  world,  (see 
Dan.  xii.  13);  they  also  confessed  that  they  themselves  only 
"  knew  in  part,  and  prophesied  in  part,  seeing  only  as  through 
a  glass  darkly ;"  expecting  that,  when  that  which  was  perfect, 
for  which  they  were  looking,  should  come,  "  then  that  which 
was  in  part  should  be  done  away."  (See  1  Cor.  xiii.  9,  10,  12.) 

They  acknowledged  that  *'  the  whole  creation  groaneth 
and  travaileth  together  in  pain  until  now,"  (Rom.  viii.  22,) 
from  the  effects  of  the  fall,  and  from  which  they  were 
not  then  saved.  "And  not  only  they,  but  we  ourselves 
who  have  the  first  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  even  we  groan  within 
ourselves,  waiting  for  the  adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemption  of 
our  body,"  that  is,  the  Church.  (Rom.  viii.  23  )  From  this 
and  very  many  other  similar  Scripture  passages,  it  is  evi- 
dent, that,  as  the  righteous  of  former  ages  looked  towards 
the  Messiah  as  the  end  of  their  faith ;  so  did  the  most  holy 
men  in  the  first  Christiim  Church  look  for  a  more  perfect  sal- 
vation in  a  future  day,  in  which  they  should  receive  that 
•  lorious  reward   "  which  the   Lord,  the   righteous  Judge, 


INSPIRATION.  106 

would  give  to  all  those  who  love  his  second  appearing." 
(2  Tim.  iv.  8 ) 

*'The  testimony  of  Jesus  is  the  spirit  of  prophecy  ;"  (Rev. 
xix.  10);  therefore,  all  who  stand  in  it  are  themselves  pro- 
phets in  the  highest  and  best  sense  of  the  term  ;  that  is,  in 
the  same  order  and  sense  that  Jesus  Christ  was  a  prophet, 
"  who  hath  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins,  and  hath 
made  us"  prophets,  and  "  kings,  and  priests  unto  God." 
(Rev.  i.  5,  6.)  Such  a  standing  Revelation,  and  abiding 
spirit  and  power  of  Divine  prophecy  is  given  in  this  last, 
final,  and  lycrfect  Dispensatio?i. 

Hitherto,  all  prophets  were  "thieves  and  robbers,"  (John, 
iv.  8,)  not  even  excepting  Moses  himself;  for  he  said  to  the 
people,  "  Hear  now,  ye  rebels,  must  ive  fetch  you  water  out 
of  this  rock  ?"  (Num.  xx.  10.)  They  were  **  ijetin  their  sins,'* 
and  in  possession  and  under  the  power  of  a  sinful  nature. 
Thus,  not  only  Moses,  but  all  the  prophets  without  exception 
(in  a  greater  or  less  degree)  appropriated  the  gifts  of  the 
Spirit  to  feed  their  fallen  corrupt  natures  ;  and  by  this  they 
**  robbed  God,"  (Mai.  iii.  9,)  which  is  the  true  reason  that 
none,  before  Christ,  had  ever  entered  or  ascended  into  hea- 
ven ;  agreeable  to  his  testimony,  which  may  not  be  disputed, 
that  "  no  man  hath  ascended  up  to  heaven,  but  he  that  came 
down  from  heaven,  even  the  Son  of  man  which  is  in  heaven." 
(John  iii.  13.) 

Therefore  the  Apostle,  speaking  of  all  the  prophets  and 
righteous  men  of  the  former  Dispensations,  concludes  that 
though  "  these  all  through  faith,  obtained  a  good  report,  yet 
they  received  not  the  promise,  God  having  provided  some  better 
thing  for  us,  that  they  without  us,  should  not  be  made  per- 
fect." (Heb.  xi.  39,  40.)  The  Apostles  received  ("in  part") 
that  "  better  thing,'"  the  object  of  the  faith  of  the  prophets — 
the  salvation  of  their  souls;  of  which  salvation  diligent 
search  and  inquiry  ^vas  made  by  those  who  prophesied  of 
this  grace  that  should  come  unto  them  ;  *'  searching  what  or 
what  manner  of  time  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  which  was  in  them, 
6 


1.06  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

did  signify.  Unto  whom  it  was  revealed,  tluit,  not  unto 
themselves,  but  unto  ns  they  did  minister  the  things  M'hich 
are  now  reported  unto  you  by  them  that  have  preached  the 
Gospel  unto  you."     (1  Pet.  i.  11,  12.) 

All  the  prophets  were  occasionally  baptized  with  the  spirit 
of  prophecy,  as  a  gift ;  and  they  wrote  and  spake  as  they 
were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  but  Jesus  was  tlie  first  up- 
on w^hom  the  Spirit  descended  and  abode.  They  were  not 
prophets  in  the  /a/^  meaning  of  the  word,  any  more  than  the 
dumb  animal  that  spake  was  a  man,  because  he  once  had 
the  gift  of  speech.  But  Christ  declared  that  "  as  the  Father 
hath  life  in  himself,  so  hath  He  given  to  the  Son  to  have  life 
in  himself."  (John,  v.  26.)  And  to  his  disciples  he  said» 
"Because  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also."     (John  xiv.  39.) 

Therefore,  as  Jesus  was  a  prophet,  so  also  are  his  followers 
prophets,  for,  "  As  he  is,  so  are  we  in  this  loorld  ;""  (1  John, 
iv.  IT  ;)  and  the  glory  w^hich  the  Father  gave  to  him,  he 
gives  to  his  followers.  (See  John,  xvii.  22.)  All  other 
prophets  and  spirits  must  be  subject  to  these  true  and  genu- 
ine prophets  ;  for  "  tlie  spirits  of  the  prophets  are  subject  to 
the  prophets."  (1  Cor.  xiv.  32.)  For  Jesus  Christ  left,  as  a  le- 
gacy to  his  brethren,  the  ''  Spirit  of  Tnith,^^  which  shouldnot 
only  call  past  things  to  their  remembrance,"  but  also  "  show 
them  things  to  come."     (See  John,  xiv.  26  ;  and  xvii    13.) 

Thus  did  Jesus  permanently  endue  his  followers  with 
the  spirit  of  prophecy  which  constituted  them  emphati- 
cally "  the  prophets,"  and  they  became  so  initiated  into 
the  very  spirit,  and  so  grounded  and  established  in  the 
constituent  principles  of  his  spiritual  kingdom,  that  they 
could  intuitively  perceive  "  things  to  come "  from  the 
ground  of  their  knowledge  cf  first  causes,  which  must 
of  necessity,  and  inevitably  produce  their  legitimate  ef- 
fects. These  were  a  kind  of  first  fruits  of  the  spirit  and 
principles  of  Christianity,  or  of  the  ''testimony  of  Jesus." 
But  true  Christians  (in  the  proper  acceptation  of  the  term) 
are  those  who  have  received  Christ  in   his  second   advent 


INSPIRATIOX.  107 

upon  earth,  in  and  tlirough  the  order  of  tlie  female,  and  are 
now  standing  in  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  loving  not  their  car- 
nal generative  lives  unto  the  spiritual  death  of  their  souls. 

These  are  the  "  first  ripe  fruits"  of  the  Four  great  Dispen- 
sations of  God's  grace  to  man;  and  they  are  only  created 
and  brought  forth  by  the  Fourth  and  last  of  these  Eras  ;  unto 
which  the  prophets  and  Apostles  of  the  preceding  Dispen- 
sations must  all  find  a  true  relation,  and  be  subject  in  the 
spirit  of  true  obedience  to  its  light  and  order,  or  never  be 
"made  perfect." 

Thus  is  fulfilled  the  saying  of  Christ,  "  The  first  shall  be 
last,  and  the  last  first ;"  proving  the  truth  of  the  Angel's 
words  to  Esdras,  that  God's  judgments  and  works  are  like  a 
ring.  "  And  that  as  there  is  no  swiftness  to  the  first,  so  there 
shall  be  no  slackness  to  the  last."     (2  Esdras,  v.  42.) 


CONCLUSION. 

The  conclusion,  therefore,  is, — that  there  are  four  Eras,  or 
steps  in  the  work  of  God  with  man ; — that  it  is  man  who 
takes  these  four  steps  towards  God,  not  vice  versa  ;  that  each 
of  the  first  three  Eras  was  possessed  of  certain  fixed  princi- 
ples and  liws,  peculiar  to  themselves,  that  regulated  tlie 
people,  and  formed  the  standard  of  judgment  to  them. 
That  all  those  fixed  principles  and  laws  are  added  to,  and 
included  in,  the  order  and  governing  principles  and  laws  ap- 
propriate to  the  Church  of  the  Fourth  Dispensation ; — and 
that,  as  it  pertained  to  the  first  three  Churches,  to  be  the 
Divine  channel,  or  medium,  of  revelation,  and  to  superintend  all 
spiritual  manifestations,  in  those  Eras ;  so  the  principles  and 
laws  of  the  Church  of  each  particular  Era,  were  the  tests  by 
which  to  determine  the  verity  and  tendencies,  as  well  as  the 
falsity  and  effect  of  every  communication  from  the  invisible 
world  ;  and  to  dispose  of  them  accordingly. 


108  TESTS   OF   DIVINE 

The  wickedness  of  the  people  caused  the  fall  of  the  first  three 
Clmrches  successively  ;  and  the  fall  of  the  Churches  left  those 
Dispensations  without  any  head  ;  the  result  of  which  was  great 
"spiritual  wickedness  in  high"  and  low  "places,"  and  confu- 
sion of  faith  and  doctrines  among  men.  And  therefore  the 
foundations  of  each  succeeding  Church,  were  laid  in  "  trou- 
blous times."     (Dan.  ix.  25.) 

The  Fourth  Era  has  commenced,  and  the  Church  thereof  is 
now  established  upon  earth. 

Each  Church  had  a  human  being  as  the  instrument  in  the 
hand  of  God,  for  its  founder ;  namely, — Adam, — Abraham, — 
Jesus, — Ann. 

And,  as  the  oak  in  the  acorn, — so  this  last  and  final 
Church  is  constituted  of  all  the  trutlis  ever  yet  revealed  or 
to  be  revealed  to  man,  though  very  many  of  them  are  in  an 
embryo  or  latent  and  undeveloped  state.  "  All  the  treasures 
of  wisdom  and  knowledge"  are  either  stored  up,  or  are 
as  yet)  hid  in  this  Church  of  Christ. 

The  "  elect"  of  God,  gathered  "  from  the  four  winds,  from 
the  uttermost  p  irts  of  the  earth,"  into  this  Church,  and  who 
have  made,  or  are  making  "  their  calling  and  election  sure," 
by  obedience  to  the"wFioLE  tkutii  of  Goc^,"  as  revealed 
and  taught  therein,  cannot,  by  all  the  confused  and  conflict- 
ing revelations  and  spiritual  manifestJltions  of  the  day,  be  in 
the  least  "  deceived." 

From  these  views,  it  is  plain  that  the  work  of  God  has 
been  progressively  ascending,  and  raising  the  standard  of 
holiness  higher  and  higher  among  men  ;  and  that  the  latest 
Dispensation  always  possessed  the  largest  measure  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  the  greatest  number  of  Divine  truths. 

In  the  perusal  of  the  foiegoing  worK,  it  will  be  seen,  that 
heaven  and  hell  are  not  local  places  merely,  but  also  states. 
Consequently,  it  is  neither  necessary  nor  consistent,  to  be- 
lieve there  is  only  one  heaven  and  one  hell,  into  one  or  other 
of  which  all  souls  enter  at  death,  whatever  Dispensation  they 
might  have  Hved  under,  and  however  small  or  great  were 
the  degrees  of  light  and  power  in  which   they  stood,  or  how 


INSPIRATION.  109 

near  soever  to  infinity  might  have  been  the  degrees  of  their 
obedience  or  disobedience. 

Jioth  reason  and  the  Scriptures  instruct  and  teach  us  that 
each  Dispensation  possessed  a  heaven  and  a  hell  pecuhar 
and  appropriate  to  itself — the  receptacles  of  its  own  subjects  ; 
and  also  that  all  souls  must  ulliraately  progress  to  the  final 
heaven  or  hell  of  the  List  Dispensation.* 

And  it  is  a  great  mistake,  and  no  less  contrary  to  reason 
than  to  the  Scriptures,  to  imagine,  as  large  classes  in  Christen- 
dom have  hitherto  done,  that  the  everlasting  state  of  souls 
is  irrevocably  fixed  and  determined  at  the  instant  of  death  ; 
and  that  all  souls — Christian  and  heathen,  old  and  young, 
sane  and  insane,  wise  and  ignorant,  good,  bad,  and  mid- 
dling— go  immediately  to  one  or  other  of  those  two  places 
of  eternal  happiness  and  misery  ;  there  to  remain  until  the 
day  of  judgment,  or  the  resurrection  ;  and  then  to  return  : 
and,  after  again  entering  their  natural  bodies,  (which  for 
that  purpose  must  be  recreated,)  to  stand  before  "  the  great 
bar  of  God,"  to  again  receive  another  everlasting  sentence  to 
one  or  the  other  of  those  places.  For,  be  it  remembered, 
that,  when  any  one  dies,  the  clergy  say,  "  lie  is  gone  to  ap- 
pear before  his  Judge  and  Creator,  to  receive  his  final  re- 
ward," &c. 

It  may  pertinently  be  asked :  If  souls,  at  death,  go  direct- 
ly to  their  final  destination,  what  is  the  use  of,  or  occasion 
for,  the  great  day  of  judgment,  and  the  resurrection  of  the 
natural  body  ?  For,  if  an  intelligent  being  of  this  earth  can 
go  to  heaven  without  his  natural  body,  and  enjoy  its  unut- 
terable happiness  and  ineffable  fehcity,  for  thousands  of 
years,  what  will  he  gain  by  being  again  united  to  "  flesh  and 
blood,"  and  taking  it  to  "  inherit,"  contrary  to  the  Apostle 

*  It  may  here,  perhaps,  be  proper  to  remark,  that  it  is  not  hy  any 
means  to  be  supposed,  that  all  who  are  in  any  particular  heaven  or 
hell  are  in  one  homogeneous  state.  "  One  star  diflfereth  from  another 
star  in  glory."  Tliere  are,  doubtless,  gradations  and  orders  without 
number,  in  both  happinese  and  misery. 


110  TESTS  OF  DIVINE 

Paul's  testimony,  that  home  of  the  spirit,  "  the  kingdom  of 
God  ?  " 

On  the  other  hand,  what  would  lost  souls,  from  their  **  lake 
of  fire  and  brimstone,"  be  advantaged  by  such  a  judgment 
and  resurrection  ? 

These  views  and  doctrines  appear  to  be  at  variance  with 
the  teachings  of  all  past  and  present  Divine  revelation.  As 
is  also  the  supposition,  that,  because  there  is  no  salvation 
except  through  Christ,  therefore  the  millions  of  sentient  in- 
telligent beings  wdio  existed  before  and  since  Christ's  first 
advent  upon  earth,  and  who  never  so  much  as  even  heard 
the  sound  of  his  name,  are  forever  doomed,  without  remedy 
or  hope,  to  the  awful  fate  of  an  eternity  of  misery,  notwith- 
standing that  they  never  possessed  the  power  of  choice,  or  any 
possible  means  of  escaping  so  dreadful  a  catastrophe. 

To  this  innumerable  company  of  lost  souls  must  also  be 
added  the  millions  upon  millions  of  infants  whom  the  Cal- 
vinists  (by  "  decree^')  sentence  to  destruction  :  also,  all  those 
whom  the  Romanists  and  Protestants  cut  off  because  they 
were  not  baptized  with  water  before  they  died.* 

If  these  were  all  doomed  to  an  endless,  hopeless  place  of 
undeserved  punishment,  it  may  well  be  asked,  Where  is  the 
justice  and  righteousness  of  "  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  ?" 
And,  who  shall  justify  such  ways  of  God  to  poor  mortal  man  ? 

No  doubt  the  hackneyed  but  ill-understood  case  of  the 
thief  on  the  cross,  who  Jesus  said  should  be  that  day  with 
him  in  paradise,  will  here  be  brought  up  as  an  objection  to 
the  doctrine  of  a  probationary  state  being  continued  in  the 
spirit  world.  But,  let  the  candid  reader  duly  consider,  that 
each  Dispeiisaiion  had  its  own  heaven  and  hell.  The  Jews 
beheved  in  Hades;  (a  place  of  departed  spirits;)  and  that  in 

*  It  is  the  established  faith  of  all  Catholics,  and  of  all  orthodox 
Protestants,  that  no  soul  can  possibly  be  saved,  unless  he  has  been 
sprinkled,  or  baptized  in  some  way,  with  water.  Therefore  the  Sor- 
bonne  (the  highest  ecclesiastical  court  in  France)  proposed  to  devise 
some  means  of  baptizing  infants  before  they  are  born.  , 


INSPIRATION.  Ill 

Hades  there  was  a  place  called  gehenna,  or  hell,  for  the 
wicked  ;  aod  a  place  called  paradise,  or  heaven,  for  the 
righteous.  These  are  the  heaven  and  hell  of  the  Second, 
or  Mosaic,  Dispensation. 

Now,  what  is  called  the  "Apostles'  Creed,"  declares  that, 
when  Jesus  died,  '*  he  descended  into  hell"  instantly,  where 
he  remained  three  days.  And  he  himself  said  :  "  As  Jonah 
was  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  Avhale's  belly,  so  the 
Son  of  man  should  be  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the 
heart  of  the  earth ;"  which  may  be  thus  explained : — 

When  Jesus  left  the  body,  he  passed  through,  the  spirit- 
world  of  the  Jewish  Dispensation ;  for  it  was  first  in  his 
way  ;  and  he  left  the  thief  in  paradise,  while  he  himself  de- 
scended to  hell,  or  gehenna,  to  labor  among  the  wicked 
Jews :  from  thence  he  passed  on,  as  Peter  states,  to  the 
heaven  and  hell  of  the  antediluvians,  or  First  Dispensation. 
**  He  went  and  preached  to  the  spirits  in  prison,  who  were 
disobedient  to  the  preaching  of  Noah,"  and  who  had  ever 
since  been  suffering  the  consequences  of  that  disobedience, 
and  of  their  other  manifold  sins,  which  finally  brought  the 
*'  flood  upon  the  world  of  the  ungodly." 

Is  it  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  Jesus  would  have  gone 
to  the  heaven  and  hell  of  the  antediluvians,  and  preached  to 
them,  had  it  not  been  possible  for  them  to  believe  and  obey, 
and  thus  to  rise  into  the  paradise  of  the  order  above  them,  in 
which  Jesus  had  left  the  repentant  thief?  It  surely  is  not  !! 
"  For  for  this  cause  was  the  Gospel  preached  to  them  that 
are  dead,  that  they  might  be  judged  according  to  men  in 
the  flesh,  but  live  according  to  God  in  the  spirit."  (1  Pet. 
iv.  6.)  They  were  to  be  judged  by  the  Gospel,  just  as 
souls  in  the  body  are  to  be  judged  by  it.'-- 

*  Paul  was  caught  up  to  the  third  heaven,  i.  e,,  to  the  heaven  of 
the  Dispeneation  in  which  he  lived.  Frequent  mention  is  made,  in 
the  Scriptures,  of  o.  plurality  of  heavens:— Deut.  x.  14,  "Behold,  the 
heaven,  and  the  heaven  of  heavens,  are  the  Lord's  thy  God;" — 
1  Kings,  viii.  2Y,  Solomon,  in  consecrating  the  temple,  said:  "But 


112  TESTS    OF   DIVINE 

It  is  a  very  cheering  fact,  that  the  Scriptures  do  not  teacli 
any  such  inconsistent,  unjust,  irrational  doctrines  as  are  now 
being  received,  which  is  made  evident  in  the  foregoing 
treatise. 

On  tlie  otlier  hand,  it  is  not  any  more  consistent,  or  in  ac- 
cordance with  reason  and  the  Scriptuies,  to  conclude,  as 
some  have  hastily  done,  that  all,  in  every  age  and  Dispen- 
sation and  sect,  will  indiscriminately  go  to  one  heaven,  and 
thus  be  blessed  with  the  salvation  of  the  last  and  final  Dis- 
pensation ;  and  that,  too,  with  many  millions  who  never 
came  into  any  knowledge  of,  nor  were  ever  obedient  to,  its 
light  and  principles.  For  every  man  will  receive  only  ac- 
corduKj  to  his  own  loorks  :  as  saith  the  Spirit,  "  I  Avill  give 
to  every  man  according  as  his  woiks  shall  be." 

It  is  well  known  that  no  scholar  could,  in  mere  rudimental 
schools,  obtain  that  complete  and  finished  education  which 
is  dispensed,  or  to  be  obtained  exclusively  in  the  highest 
seminaries  of  leai  ning. 

Now,  the  First  Dispensation  was  but  as  a  schoolmaster  to 
the  Second;  and  "  Moses  was  only  a  schoolmaster,  to  bring 
souls  to  Christ ;"  just  as  the  first  Christian  Dispensation  was 
only  "  in  part,"  and  served  as  a  stepping-stone,  or  "school- 
master," to  fit  and  prepare  its  subjects  for  the  second  Chris- 
tian Church,  or  Fourth,  last,  and  final  Dispensation,  in  which 
the  great  "mystery  of  godliness,"  which  has  been  "hid 
from  the  foundation  of  tlie  world,"  is  fully  revealed  and 
finished. 


will  God  indeed  dwell  on  the  earth?  Behold  the  heaven  and  heaven 
of  heavens  cannot  contain  thee;' — P?.  cxt.  16,  "The  heaven,  even 
the  heavens,  are  the  Lord's."  Consequently,  God  is  not  exclusively 
in  any  of  the  heavens  of  the  Dispensations  to  which  the  human  family 
will  only  attain.  When  Christ  had  done  his  work  among  the  souls 
and  spirits  of  the  first  and  second  Dispengations,  he  ascended  to  his 
Father,  "  far  above  all  heavens,"  from  whence  he  came  ;  for  "  he'- — 
the  Christ,  not  Jcftvs — "  that  ascended,  was  the  same  that  also  de- 
Bcended.'" 


INSPIRATION.  113 

This  system  effectually  destroys  all  Seclarianism ;  for  it 
unfolds  the  progressive  nature  of  the  work  of  God  \vitli  man, 
from  age  to  age ;  and  explains  why  man  must  progress,  or 
change,  from  "  faith  to  faith,"  step  by  slep,  from  one  Dis- 
pensation to  another,  until  he  comes  to  the  last,  or  **  perfect 
day,"  in  which  there  is  no  d  irkness,  or  error  ;  and  in  which, 
all  the  isolated  truths  of  all  sects,  nations,  kindreds,  toncrues, 
and  people,  are  united ;  and  in  which  it  is  entirely  in  the 
power  of  every  individual  to  work  out  his  own  full  salva- 
tion and  perfect  redemption  from  the  nature  and  effects  of 
the  fall  of  Adam  and  of  himself ;  "  for  all  have  sinned  after 
the  similitude  of  Adam's  transgression." 

God  is  not  an  arbitrary  being :  but  "  that  which  a  man 
sows,  he  will  also  reap,"  and  nothui:/  else. 

But,  if  there  be  no  foundation,  or  "  if  the  foundation,  be 
destroyed,  what  can  even  the  most  righteous  do?"  How 
could  any  individual  soul,  under  a  dark  germinal  Dispensa- 
tion, however  faithful  he  might  have  been,  arrive  at  that 
exalted  state  and  condition  that  is  only  the  fruit  of  obedience 
to  one  in  which  "  the  light  of  the  moon"  (reason)  "is  as  the 
the  light  of  the  sun"  (revelation,)  "  and  the  liglit  of  the  sun 
as  the  light  of  seven  days  ?" 

Individuals,  living  under  an  imperfect  or  evil  system, 
may  desire  to  be  better  than  that  system ;  even  as  individu- 
als, living  under  a  perfect  system,  may  come  short  of  per- 
fect obedience  thereto.  And  herein  the  wisdom,  as  well  as 
the  goodness  of  God  is  manifested,  in  calling  individuals  out 
of  the  Babylon  system  of  the  woild,  wherein  *'  he  who  de- 
parteth  from  evil,  maketh  himself  a  prey,"  saying,  •'  Come 
out  of  her,  my  people,  that  ye  be  not  partakers  of  her  sins, 
and  that  ye  receive  not  of  her  plagues." 

Therefore,  never,  until  individual  man  shall  be  placed 
under  the  influence  and  operation  of  ti  perfect  system,  can  he, 
either  in  this  woild  or  the  next,  so  sin,  or  fall,  or  be  lost,  as 
to  be  beyond  the  power  of  such  perfect  system  to  resurrect 
him. 


114  TESTS   Oi.^    DIYTXE   INSPIRATION. 

And  now  we  affectionately,  but  confidently,  recommend 
to  all  honest  inquiring  minds,  of  every  class  and  party,  to  in- 
vestigate the  faith,  principles,  and  doctrines  of  the  Church  of 
Christ's  second  appearing. 

For  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  but,  rather,  "  has  con- 
cluded alV^  nations,  and  people,  and  tongues,  "  in"  a  state 
of  "sin"  and  spiritual  darkness,  and  in  unbelief  of  the  Fourth 
and  last  Dispensation,  and  of  its  true  Church;  that,  through 
it,  he  might,  in  the  end,  "  have  mercy  upon  all.''* 


APPEK^DIX. 


Sects. — A  sect  is  an  ecclesiastical  body  having  its  origin 
in  Divine  revelation,  and  existing  upon  the  record  thereof. 
In  this  sense,  the  general  Christian  Church  (Christendom) 
is  a  sect.  It  professes  to  have  descended  from,  and  to  be  a 
continuation  of,  the  primitive  Church,  which  was  founded  by 
and  upon  Divine  revelation ; — revelation  was  the  life-blood 
by  which  its  existence  was  continued. 

But  this  great  sect  acknowledges,  and  even  authoritatively 
affirms,  that  revelation  ceased  soon  after  the  days  of  the 
Apostles  ;  thereby  effectually  cutting  off  its  own  claim  to  be 
a  living  body,  or  church, — any  thing,  indeed,  but  a  dead 
body,  a  mere  sect,  that  only  lives  upon  the  remembrance  or 
record  of  the  original  and  by-gone  revelations  contained  in 
the  Bible. 

A  sect  looks  hack  ;  a  Church  \odk.'&  forward.  The  highest 
aspirations  of  the  former  never  ascend  above  the  measure  of 
\i^  founders,  while  those  of  the  latter  reach  to  God,  by  an 
endless  progression,  through  the  means  of  continual  revela- 
tion, or  intercourse  with  the  spirit  world,  in  the  Divine  order. 

Christ,  in  his  first  advent,  established  a  Church  upon 
earth,  of  which  Jesus  was  the  visible  Head,  (Peter  and 
others  were  his  successors,)  and  the  Apostles  were  members 
thereof  in  common  with  other  believers.  This  was  not  a 
sect ;  but  a  true  living  Church. 

Sectarianism  is  defined,  by  Webster,  as  being  **  a  disposi- 


115  J^PPENDIX. 

tion  to  dissent  from  ihe  established  Church,  or  predominant 
religion."  This  was  just  what  the  Jews  charged  the  first 
Christian  Church  with.  They  called  it  a  "  pernicious  sect,'' 
which  was  "turning  the  world  upside  down." 

But  Jesus  and  his  followers  assumed  that  they  actually 
understood,  believed,  and  carried  into  practice,  the  genuine 
principles  of  the  law  of  Moses,  as  did  none  of  the  Jews 
themselves.  In  truth,  they  claimed  to  be  "  IsraeUtes  indeed," 
inwardly ;  being  circumcised  in  heart  and  in  spirit  by  the 
truth — "  the  testimony  of  Jesus." 

And,  as  all  vvere  not  Israelites  who  were  of  Israel,  (for,  if 
they  had  believed  Moses,  they  would  also  have  believed  and 
followed  Christ)  so  did  Jesus  foresee  it  would  be  with  Chris- 
tians. Many  would  say,  "  Lord,  Lord,"  and  *'  name  the 
name  of  Christ,"  without  '*  departing  from  all  iniquity,"  who 
consequently  nevei  knew  Christ,  and  unto  whom  he  would 
say,  "  Depart  from  me  ;  I  never  knew  you.'''' 

Jesus  also  foresaw  that  the  Church  itself  would  be  de- 
stroyed, and  "  trodden  under  foot  of  the  Gentiles  forty  and 
two  months ;"  and  that,  during  that  period,  or  night,  of  anti- 
christ, (/.  e.)  until  Christ  should  make  another — his  second — 
appearance,  and  set  up  a  more  perfect  Christian  Church, 
*' witnesses"  would  arise,  who  would  "prophesy  in  sack- 
cloth and  ashes,"  that  is,  in  a  state  of  suffering  and  mourning. 

When  revelation  ceased  in  the  Church,  it  fell — perished  ; 
and  then  the  Spirit  began  to  raise  up  and  bring  forth  "  wit- 
nesses" (heretics)  one  after  another,  in  every  age  and  genera- 
tion, who  exceedingly  troubled  the  repose  of  the  now  dead 
false  church,  or  "  beast,"  or  "  whore  of  Babylon,"  millions 
of  whom  suffered  martyrdom  at  her  hands,  by  rack,  faggot, 
and  gibbet,  and  by  the  various  devilish  machinery  of  the  in- 
fernal Inquisition,  for  the  testimony  which  they  bore  against 
the  errors  and  abominations  of  that  "  mother  of  harlots,"  the 
Roman  Catholic  Christian  Church. 

Many  of  the  orders  in  that  Church  were  founded  by 
"  witnesses."  who  had   received  a  revelation  of  some  truth. 


APPENDIX.  117 

or  truths,  by  which  they  were  impelled  to  live  a  more  holy 
and  t-elf-denying  life  than  the  great  body  of  the  subjects  of 
the  '-kingdom  of  the  beast"  were  wont  to  hve.  These,  so 
long  as  they  received  outward  persecution,  prospered  in  the 
Spirit.  But,  when  the  **  beast"  canonized  them,  "their  testi- 
mony was  fini^hed  ;"  and  ''  the  beast,  which  ascendeth  up 
out  of  the  bottomless  pit"  of  ease,  worldly  honor,  fleshly 
lusts,  and  self-indulgence,  "  made  war  with  them,  and  over- 
came them,  and  killed  them  ;"  and  their  "  dead  bodies" 
(sects)  lay  above  ground  unburied  :  for  now,  being  enrolled 
among  the  powers  and  orders  of  the  false  church,  "  they 
give  their  power"  and  influence,  which  had  been  acquired  by 
their  previous  gift  of  Divine  revelation,  "  unto  the  beast." 

This  was  the  true  origin,  not  only  of  the  hundreds  of  sects 
which  "  lie  in  the  streets  of  the  great  city,  which  spiritually 
is  called  Sodom  and  Egypt" — Babylon,  confasion — in  the 
"kingdom  of  the  beast" — Catholicisni  ;  but  also  of  the 
hundreds  of  sects  in  the  kinojdom  of  the  "  imaofe  of  the 
beast" — Protestantism.  These  are  the  "dead  bodies"  of 
"  witnesses,"  (who  have  dehvered  their  message,  or  "  testi- 
mony,") which  their  destroyers  "will  not  sufter  to  be  put, 
into  graves,"  out  of  sight.  They  are  those  whom  persecution 
failed  to  kill ;  but  who  were  overcome  and  destroyed  by  the 
flattery,  kindness,  and  friendship  of  the  spirit  of  the  world, 
and  who  thence  became  the  chief  and  warmest  supporters 
of  the  governments  of  "  this  world  ;"  for  false  civil  govern- 
ments can  only  be  sustained  and  continued  by  false  religions^ 
and  therefore  the  only  hope  of  true  liberty  of  faith  and  con- 
science, of  speech,  and  of  the  press,  lies  in  an  entire  and 
perfect  separation  of  Church  and  State — pure  Mepublican- 
ism. 

Each  of  the  "  witnesses,"  as,  for  instance,  the  Moravians, 
Dunkards,  Swedenborgians,  Methodists,  Quakers,  Szc.  d-c,  re- 
ceived and  proclaimed  some  one  or  more  of  the  truths  which 
compose  the  "testimony  of  Jesus,"  as  it  is  set  forth  in  the 
foregoing   "Tests."''      And  thus    "God   has  not  left  himself 


118  APPENDIX. 

without  a  witness"  to  nearly  every  one  of  the  doctrines  tliat 
form  the  system  of  the  true  Church  of  Christ  in  his  second 
appearing. 

War,  slavery,  temperance,  dress,  language,  civil  govern- 
ment, private  property,  and  even  the  virgin  life,  &c.  &c., 
have  all  been  recognized  by  one  or  other  of  the  "  witnesses," 
during  some  periods  of  the  apostaaj. 

The  joyous  manifestations  of  the  Spirit,  at  even  a  tempo- 
rary and  partial  deliverance  from  sin,  have,  by  some,  been 
exhibited  in  shouting,  leaping,  dancing,  singing,  &c. ;  thus 
foreshadowing  even  the  form  of  worship  of  the  true  Church, 
wherein  "  the  virgin  should  rejoice  in  the  dance,  both  old 
men  and  young  together." 

Parties. — The  natural  reformers  of  the  day  are  rather 
parties  than  sects.  These  are  the  earthly  man  ;  and  are 
raostl}'-  composed  of  those  who  have  received  some  of  the 
testimonies  which  the  "  witnesses"  have  delivered  ;  as,  for 
instance,  the  Peace  Societies,  Abolition  Societies,  Temper- 
ance Societies,  Land  Reforms,  <fec. ;  which  testimonies  origi- 
nated in  Divine  revelation  through  some  of  the  "witnesses," 
who  are  now  themselves  "  dead  bodies''  of  people,  even  in 
relation  to  these  very  reforms. 

Thus  do  the  great  radical  and  beautiful  truths,  which 
formed  the  perfect  "testimony  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  whom  are 
hid  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge,"  ready  to  be 
revealed  and  brought  forth  in  his  Church,  like  the  materials 
for  Solomon's  temple,  lie  on  the  mountains  of  a  foreign  land 
— the  world.  Here  and  there,  stones  and  timbers  are  wait- 
ing for  the  great  Master  Builder,  Christ,  to  come  and  give 
the  word  of  command  to  build  the  temple  of  the  Most  High 
God.  "  And  the  time  is  come  for  the  Lord's  house  to  be 
built:"  the  Master  has  appeared,  and  has  pointed  out  to  the 
builders  the  corner  stone  ;  *  and  the   temple   goes  bravely 

*  According:  to  a  Masonic  tradition,  *'  after  the  materials  (which 


APPENDIX.  119 

up,  although  it  be  in  "  troublous  times,"  and  surrounded  by 
enemies.     (See  Nehemiah,  iv.) 

Now,  "vvith  Avliat  propriety  shall  a  system,  composed  of 
such  universal  principles  and  truths,  some  of  which  may  be 
found  in  every  combination  of  human  beings  upon  earth,  and 
more  or  less  in  every  individual  of  each  combination,  be  de- 
signated sectarian  ? — a  system  adapted  to  the  primitive  cre- 
ation of  man ;  meeting,  comprehending,  providing  for,  and 
supplying  all  his  real  nxtional  wants  of  both  soul  and  body ; 
which  looks  upon  all  men  as  brethren ;  and  considers  the 
whole  human  family,  (without  exception)  whether  in  this  or 
the  spirit  world,  as  being  in  a  solvable  state,  and  capable  of 
hearing,  receiving,  and  obeying  the  truth — even  '*  the  whole 
counsel  of  Gud." 

If  this — the  most  merciful  and  catholic  religion — consti- 
tutes those  who  live  it  a  sect,  why  then  it  is,  or  will  be,  a 
sect  just  as  Moses'  rod  was  a  serpent,  and  will  remain  so 
only  until  it  has  swallowed  up  every  other  sect. 

For  this  Church  will  own  and  bless  all  the  good  and  all 
the  truths  that  are  in  every  sect,  and  in  every  reform ;  and 
it  will  absorb  and  embody  within  its  world-wide  system, 
every  one  of  these ;  and  thus  it  will  "  gather  together,  in 
Christ,  all  things,  both  which  are  in  heaven  and  upon  earth," 
necessary  to  the  building  of  the  "house  of  the  Lord,"  which 
is  yet  to  be  '*  a  house  of  prayer  for  all  nations ^ 


had  been  previously  prepared)  for  Solomon's  temple  were  upon  the 
ground,  and  the  workmen  were  ready  to  commence  building,  the 
corner  stone  could  not  be  found  ;  for  the  stone  which  had  been  pre- 
pared and  marked  for  that  purpose,  was  utterly  rejected  by  them  all ; 
it  being  thought  impossible  (from  its  uncouth  and  uncomely  appear- 
ance) that  it  could  be  the  chief  stone  in  so  glorious  a  building,  But 
when  Solomon,  who  had  been  sent  for,  came,  that  which  had  been  80 
despised  and  rejected,  proved  to  be  the  very  chief  corner  stone. 

Thus,  even  in  the  figurative  building,  "  the  stone  which  the  builders 
rejected,  became  the  head  stone  of  the  corner."  (See  Ps.  cxviii,  22  ; 
and  1  Pet.  ii.  fi— 8.) 


120  APPENDIX. 

Organizations. — There  is,  in  the  present  day,  among 
many  of  the  true  friends  of  progress,  a  strong  feeling  to  de- 
nounce and  destroy  sectarianism.  It  carries  some  so  far  as 
to  lead  them  to  oppose  all  organizations,  civil  and  religious. 
This,  too,  is  (in  a  measure)  the  result  of  the  testimony  of  a 
'witness;"  for  ''Babylon  is  fallen,  is  fallen;"  and  it  is  by 
the  operation  of  this  very  spirit  of  disorganization  that  she 
does  fall.  "  God  has  put  it  into  their  hearts  to  hate  the  whore, 
strip  her  naked,  and  to  burn  her  with"  the  *'  fire"  of  truth. 

The  work  which  is  given  them  to  do,  is  to  pull  down  and 
destroy  all  false  systems  and  organizations ;  and,  in  doing  it, 
they  become  so  zealously  engaged,  that  they  forget  that  God's 
design  is  only  that  a  true  organization  may  have  a  place 
wherein  to  exist.  But  the  process  and  work  of  tearing  down 
old  buildings,  and  clearing  away  the  rubbish,  is  not  usually 
committed  to  those  who  possess  a  capacity  for  building.  The 
jixe,  the  hatchet,  the  pick,  and  the  crowbar,  with  which  to 
demolish,  are  in  the  hands  of  some  ;  while  the  line,  the  plum- 
met, and  the  square,  with  which  to  organize  and  build,  are 
in  the  hands  of  others. 

Because  there  are,  as  Jesus  said  there  would  be,  "  many 
false  Christs  and  false  prophets,"  at  about  this  time  of  his 
second  coming,  that  is  an  evidence  for — not  against — the  fact, 
that  there  are,  or  will  be,  a  true  Christ  and  true  prophets, — 
a  true  organization, —  whether  denominated  a  Church  or  Sect. 
i\nd  it  will  surely  swallow  and  absorb  the  life  of  every  other 
sect  and  church  in  existence  :  and,  if  the  primitive  Church  of 
Christ  itself  had  stood,  and  were  now  standing,  in  all  its  pris- 
tine glory,  even  its  life,  principles,  and  faith,  would  be  re- 
ceived into,  and  be  appropiiated  by,  and  its  organization 
would  give  place  to,  the  supeiior  light,  power,  and  perfec- 
tions of  the  Church  of  the  Fourth  and  last  Dispensation,  to 
be  manifested  in  the  present  da}'. 

For,  as  the  Prophet  declared,  "  In  the  days  of  these  kings, 
will  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a  kingdom,  which  shall  never 
be  destroved.     And  the  kinjrdom  shall  not  be  left  to  other 


APPENDIX.  121 

people ;  but  it  sliall  break  in  pieces  and  consume  all  these 
kingdoms"  (sects):  "and  it  shall  stand  for  ever."  (Dan. 
i.  44.) 

As  the  Dispensations  supplanted  and  succeeded  each  other, 
even  so  did  the  "  witnesses"  supplant  and  succeed  each  other. 
There  could  be  no  increase  in  any  other  way  ;  as  each  one 
(although  originating  in  Divine  revelation)  disbelieved  in  its 
continued  and  increasing  operation  : — They  invariably  looked 
back  to  their  founders,  Moses,  or  Calvin,  or  Wesley,  or  F'ox, 
or  some  one  else,  even  as  each  individual  of  them  also  looks 
back  to  his  former  spiritual  experience  (if  he  ever  had  any)  ; 
and  this  the  Protestant  tells  in  meeting,  as  worship,  even  as 
the  Catholic  tells  his  beads. 

It  is  not  thus  with  the  just  and  true  Church :  its  path  is 
that  of  the  individual  perfect  man  and  woman,  of  whom  it  is 
(or  will  be)  constituted,  and  "shines  brighter  and  brighter 
unto  the  perfect  day,"  when  God  will  be  all  and  in  all. 

It  is  therefore  clearly  impossible  for  that  kingdom  to  be 
ever  "given  to  another  people."  For  "the  horn  made  war 
with  the  saints,  ("witnesses,")  and  prevailed  against  them," 
only  "until  the  Ancient  of  Days,"  (Christ)  "came;  and 
judgment  was"  then  "  given  to  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,"" 
whose  transcendent  privilege  it  shall  be,  to  "  possess  the 
kingdom  for  ever  and  ever." 

The  rise  of  this  glorious  kingdom,  in  its  earlier  stages,  is  as 
"  the  day  of  small  things,"  and  is  prefigured  by  "  a  little 
stone,"  "  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,"  "  a  Uttle  leaven,"  (kc.  &c. ; 
yet  is  it  very  expansive  and  progressive  in  its  nature  and 
character. 

Moreover  this,  the  true  Church,  is  to  be  a  normal  growth  and 
outbirth  of  the  great  humamty, — the  end  of  Sectarianism, — 
the  culmination  of  all  reforms, — the  ultimatum  of  the  uni- 
versal desire  and  deeply-rooted  hope  for  something  better 
than  mankind  have  yet  realized  upon  earth  ; — and  not  some 
violent  disruption  of  the  eternal  connection  existing  between 
cause  and  efect,  as  is  orthodoxly  believed  ;  which  belief  the 


122  APPENDIX. 

Second  Adventists  labored  most  assiduously,  though  quite 
sincerely,  to  incarnate  and  bring  to  pass ;  against  which,  may 
be  received,  as  evidence,  tlie  general  tenor  of  Scripture  pro- 
phecy. 

Thus,  by  Isaiah,  the  Lord  saith :  "  Behold,  my  servants 
shall  sing  for  joy  of  heart ;"  and  "  he  who  blesses  himself  in 
the  earth,  shall  bless  himself  in  the  God  of  truth ;  because 
the  former  troubles  are  forgotten,  and  because  they  are  hid 
from  mine  eyes.  For,  behold,  I  create  a  new  heaven  and  a 
new  earth  ;  and  the  former  shall  not  be  remembered,  nor  come 
into  mind.  But,  be  ye  glad  and  rejoice  for  ever  in  that  which 
I  create  ;  for,  behold,  I  create  Jerusalem  a  rejoicing,  and  her 
people  a  joy.  And  they  shall  build  houses  and  inhabit  them  ; 
and  plant  vineyards,  and  eat  the  fruit  of  them.  They  shall 
not 2)lant,  and  another  eat;  they  shall  not  build,  and  another 
inhabit.  They  shall  not  labor  in  vain,  nor  bring  forth  fo^ 
trouble.  For  they  are  the  seed  of  the  blessed  of  the  Lord. 
And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that,  bcfoj-c  they  call,  I  will  an- 
sioer;  and  while  they  are  yet  speaking,  I  will  hear.''''     ( Is.  Ixv, ) 

This  will  put  an  effectual  end  to  sectarianism,  as  it  is  de- 
fined in  the  beginning  of  this  article. 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  the  relation  subsisting  between  God 
and  the  true  Church  on  earth,  is,  or  will  be,  that  of  a  living 
Father  and  Mother  to  their  living  sons  and  daughters ;  and 
is  sustained  by  a  perpetual  and  practical  revelation,  through 
which  is  effected  such  a  development  and  exhibition  of  spiri- 
tual light  and  power,  as  will  redeem,  shield,  and  protect  their 
recipients  from  the  power  and  influence  of  evil  to  an  extent 
that  is,  by  the  Spirit,  with  great  force  and  propriety  called 
"  a  new  heaven.^'' 

And  also  is  seen,  that  establishment  of  those  just  and 
righteous  principles,  which  regard  the  distribution  and  use  of 
all  the  elements  essential  to  man's  existence  and  subsistence 
in  this  physical  w^orld  ;  which  the  same  Divine  spirit  of  pro- 
phecy fitly  and  appropriately  designates  "a  new  earth,''  in 
which  should  dwell  righteousness  and  peace. 


APPENDIX.  123 

Thus  it  is  not  names  or  profession,  but  principles  only  that 
must  determine  and  decide  what  is,  and  what  is  not  secta- 
rianism. "  By  this,"  said  Jesus,  "  shall  all  men  know  that  ye 
are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  for  another," — a  prin- 
ciple. 

So  that,  whether  the  desire  of  any  persons  be  to  find  the 
true  Church  of  Christ,  if  it  be  in  existence,  or  to  estabHsh  it 
if  it  be  not,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  they  know  its  real 
marks, — characteristics, — or  principles  ;  that,  by  them,  they 
may  judge,  decide,  or  work.  One  thing  is  certain,  and  that  is, 
that  the  subjects  of  that  salvation  Church  will  "  be  an  afflict- 
ed and  poor  people  ;"  (Zeph.  iii.  12  ;)  to  redeem  themselves, 
and  others,  they  will  have  to  suffer,  as  Jesus  and  his 
Apostles  suffered;  to  die,  as  they  died;  and  be  made  alive, 
as  they  were  made  alive. 

And,  if  in  them  be  truly  concentrated  all  the  light  and 
the  Spirit  of  the  Primitive  Church,  and  of  the  '*  witnesses," 
— in  them  also  will  arise  all  the  temptations  of  the  Primitive 
Church  and  Witnesses ;  and  where  these  were  tried,  and  fell, 
— those  will  also  be  tried,  but  must  stand. 

This  will  make  "  a  straiorht  and  narrow  road,"  not  for  the 
Church  collectively  only,  but  for  every  individual  member 
thereof ;  for  into  it  will  *'  many  be  called,  and  few  chosen  :" 
that  is,  but  few  in  proportion  to  the  number  called  will  enter 
and  "  make  their  calling  and  election  sure"  by  obedience  to 
its  principles  ;  for,  "  through  the  gates  into  that  holy  city, 
can  nothing  enter  that  worketh  abomination,  or  that  loveth 
or  maketh  a  lie."     (Rev.  xxii.  21.) 


124  APPENDIX. 


SHAKERISM. 

EXTRACT    FROM    "HINTS    TOWARDS    REFORM,"    BY    II.    GREELEY, 

(pp.  278-280.) 

"  With  the  Shakers,  so  nick-named,  I  have  some  personal 
acquaintance,  and  I  am  not  ashamed  to  own  that  I  have  been 
instructed  and  cheered  by  them.  They  have  never  been 
fairly  appreciated  by  the  world.  Their  utter  condemnation 
of  marriage  and  of  individual  property,  the  grotesque  cere- 
monies of  Divine  worship,  and  their  incessant  declamation 
against  all  departures  from  celibacy  as  impure  and  sinful 
have  repelled  and  disgusted  nearly  all  who  are  not  of  their 
own  body.  But,  might  not  a  more  expansive  philosophy,  a 
more  liberal  culture,  discover  in  these  very  excesses  a  moral 
worthy  of  the  gravest  attention  ? 

Are  our  relations  as  men  and  women  so  universally  pure 
and  exalted  that  we  may  rightly  despise  those  who,  unable 
to  separate  the  palpable  evil,  from  the  latent  good,  reject 
both  together  ?  Is  exclusive  property  so  beneficent  a  feature 
of  our  social  order,  as  practically  exemplified  around  us,  that 
we  may  fairly  stigmatize  those  who,  not  needing  its  incite- 
ments to  thrift  or  industry,  see  fit  to  decline  them  ? 

The  peculiarities  of  Shaker  worship  I  readily  abandon  to 
the  ridicule  of  the  caviller,  only  wishing  that  theirs  were  the 
only  absurdities  committed  in  attempting  to  honor  our  Fa- 
ther in  Heaven,  and  that  no  Religious  errors  more  popular 
and  more  enduring  than  theirs  were  worse  than  simply  ridi- 
culous. 

When  all  that  may  be  said  against  these  simple-minded 
ascetics  has  been  freely  admitted,  there  is  yet  left  enough  in 
their  chaiacter  and  history  to  challenge  our  admiration. 

They  present  the  sublime  and  hope-inspiring  spectacle  of 


APPENDIX.  125 

a  community  founded  and  built  up  on  tiic  conquest  of  the 
most  inexorable  appetites ;  lust,  avarice,  ambition,  re- 
venge,— these  are  not  merely  discountenanced  by  the  social 
economy  of  the  Shakers,  but  this  economy  is  based  on  their 
entire  crucifixion.  Nor  can  I  see  how  any  man  can  rationally 
conclude,  as  some  have  nevertheless  asserted,  that  all  this 
show  of  subduing  the  appetites  is  hypocrisy  and  a  delusion. 
I  can  conceive  no  earthly  motive  for  practising  so  much  out- 
ward self-denial,  at  so  great  inconvenience,  and  with  no  hope 
of  honor,  or  popularity,  but  a  certainty  of  the  reverse,  if  not 
based  on  obedience  to  an  inward  conviction. 

The  uncharitable  theory  supposes  a  refinement  of  absurdi- 
ty and  self-annoyance  v/hich  never  yet  possessed  for  any  pe- 
riod the  brain  of  any  one  sane  man,  much  less  of  a  whole 
community  for  ages. 

Let  us,  then,  profit  by  the  lessons  which  these  enthusiasts 
read  us,  while  discarding  their  unpardonable  errors.  Let 
us  remember  that  they  have  solved  for  us  the  problem  of 
the  possibility,  the  practicability,  of  a  social  condition  from 
which  the  twin  curses,  pauperism  and  servitude,  shall  be 
utterly  banished.  They  have  shown  how  pleasant  may  be 
the  labors,  how  abundant  the  comforts,  of  a  community 
wherein  no  man  aspires  to  be  lord  over  his  brethren,  no 
man  grasps  for  himself,  but  each  is  animated  by  a  spirit  of 
devotion  to  the  common  good. 

When  I  have  stood  among  the  quiet  homes  of  this  un- 
aspiring, unpoetical  people,  and  marked  how  they  have 
steadily,  surely,  advanced  from  abject  poverty  to  amplest 
competence;  when  I  have  observed  how  their  patient  but 
never  excessive  toil  has  transformed  rugged  barrenness  into 
smiling  fertility  and  beauty,  how  could  1  refrain  from  think- 
ing lightly  of  that  blind  dogmatism  which  asserts  the  im- 
possibility of  inducing  men  to  labor  except  for  their  own 
selfish  gratification,  and  affirms  the  necessity  of  the  stimulus 
of  personal  acquisition  to  save  mankind  from  sinking  back 
into  the  darkness  and  destitution  of  barbarism  ?" 


LOCATION  OF  THE   SOCIETIES. 


Persons  desirous  of  visiting  any  of  the  societies  of  Shakers 
may  be  informed  that  there  are  three  of  them  in  the  State 
of  New  York,  viz. 

The  first  and  largest  at  New  Lebanon^  County  of  Colum- 
bia, 2i  miles  South  of  Lebanon  Springs. 

One  at    Watervliet,  1  miles    N.  W.  from  the  City  of 
Albany,  in  the  same  County. 

One  at    Groveland,  Livingston  County,  4  miles  S.  of 
Mount  Morris. 

Four  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  viz. 

One    at   Hancock,   Berkshire    County,  5    miles  W.  of 
Pittstield. 

One  at    Tyriiigham,  Berkshire   County,  3   miles  S.  of 
South  Lee. 

One  at  Harvard,  Worcester  County,  30  miles  N.  W.  of 
Boston. 

One  at    Shirley,    Middlesex   County,   7    miles  W.    of 
Harvard. 

One  in  tlie  State  of  Connecticut,  at  Enfield,  Hartford  Coun- 
ty, 4  miles  E.  of  Thompsonville,  and  8  miles  S.  of 
Springfield. 

Two  in  the  State  of  New  Hampshire,  viz. 

One  at  Canterbury,  Merrimack  County,  12  miles  N.  by 
E.  of  Concord. 


LOCATION    OF    THE    SOCIETIES.  127 

One  at  Enfield,  Grafton  County,  12  miles  S.  E.  of 
Dartmouth  College. 

Two  in  the  State  of  Maine,  viz. 

One  at  Alfred,  York  County,  30  miles  S.  W.  of  the 
City  of  Portland. 

One  at  New  Gloucester,  Cumberland  County,  25  miles 
N.  W.  of  Portland. 

Four  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  viz. 

One  at  Union  Village,  Warren  County,  4  miles  W.  of 
Lebanon,  and  30  miles  N.  by  E.  of  Cincinnati,  (this 
is  the  first  and  largest  Society  in  the  Western  States.) 

One  at  WatervUet,  Montgomery  County,  6  miles  S.  E. 
of  Dayton. 

One  at  White  Water,  Hamilton  County,  22  miles  N. 
W.  of  Cincinnati. 

One  at  North  Union,  Cuyahoga  County,  8  miles  S.  E, 
of  Cleveland. 

Two  in  the  State  of  Kentucky,  viz. 

One  at  Pleasant  Hill,  Mercer  County,  7  miles  E.  of 
Harrodsburg. 

One  at  South  Union,  Logan  County,  15  miles  N.  E.  of 
Russelville. 

These  are  all  the  established  Societies  now  exi:sting  as. 
branches  of  the  community,  and  are  easy  of  access,  most  of 
them  being  located  near  to  Raih'oad  Depots.  There  are 
also  individual  members  in  fellowj^hip,  who  reside  apart  from 
the  above-named  settlements. 


DATE  DUE 


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